


Intimate Strangers

by jamiesommers



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, Joshifer - Fandom, Real Person Fiction
Genre: F/M, joshifer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-07-11
Packaged: 2017-12-09 21:44:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 55,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/778313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamiesommers/pseuds/jamiesommers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Josh and Jen change the terms of their friendship they venture into a new relationship that has to be hidden from the outside world. As Jennifer's  career starts to change, their lives begin traveling on different paths, and their worlds start to unravel. Based on real time events, but the gaps are filled in with my vivid imagination. This is a work of FICTION!!! I made most of it up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Mel and Lo for helping me with the timeline of events.

**Intimate Strangers**

**By: Jamie Sommers**

**Rated NC-17 for sexual situations, language, drinking and drug use**

 

**This is a work of fiction. I do not know these people. I do not wish to harm these people. Situations in this story are mostly my own imagination gone wild, but some are public record (like film titles and stuff). If for some reason I actually hit the nail on the head with one of my FICTIONAL recreations, it is purely coincidence. I am not psychic. I cannot predict the future. My blood type is O negative. My hair was red when I was born. Too much?**

 

**Thank you so much Mel. Trust me when I tell you this story would not have happened without her knowledge and help. Thank you Lo for all you did to contribute to my Joshifer needs. These two women supplied me with massive quantities of Joshifer knowledge. Okay, now go and read!**

 

 

 

Intimate Strangers: Part One

 

 

 

The sound of Elizabeth's voice screeching, “ _That_ is ma _hog_ any,” and a vibration against Josh's thigh had him digging his cell out of the pocket of his cutoffs. He silently reminded himself for the umpteenth time to change the personalized notification tone for his Hunger Games costars that Liam and Jennifer put on his phone as a prank. He shielded the screen with his hand from the blinding glare of the hot Panama sun, noticing it was one of the culprits sending him a text.

 

“ **I'm gonna be there to introduce the trailer. Why aren't you?”**

 

Josh ignored the text from Liam, as well as the three previous phone calls he had gotten over the past hour, and put his phone on silent. The MTV Movie Awards were just around the corner, and as of right now only Liam was confirmed to show up. Josh and Jennifer had excellent excuses, they were both on location filming, but everyone in Hollywood knew what a big deal Catching Fire was to Lionsgate, and no production company wanted to alienate themselves from the conglomerate, in recent light of their success, just in case they needed to work with them on future endeavors. In other words, he knew he could easily get the time off to join his costar. The problem was, he didn't know if he wanted to. Seeing Jennifer again, acting like there was nothing wrong in front of the cameras, then going back to being intimate strangers once they were out of the public eye, left him feeling cold...angry, more than that, it caused a stabbing pain in the center of his chest that refused to go away. It had been over a month, almost two, since she screamed at him that their friendship was over, and though they had stopped the tabloid rumors about their fight, claiming that nothing was wrong and the entire thing was fabricated, the fact remained that they hadn't been on speaking terms since that fateful day.

 

“Mr. Hutcherson?” Josh turned to the sound of his assistant's voice. “You've got a call,” the palm of her hand was over the mouthpiece of a cellphone. Josh was prepared to tell the girl to feed whoever was on the phone a line of shit...tell them he was filming or some crap like that until she said, “It's your manager.”

 

“Shit,” he grumbled under his breath, and held his hand out for the phone. “This is Josh,” his standard greeting when taking a business call seemed agitated. He knew the purpose of this particular call, and still wasn't quite ready to make an official answer.

 

“Josh, is there something wrong with your phone? Need me to get that assistant to replace it?” There was genuine concern in his manager's tone, but Josh knew better.

 

“No. My phone's fine. Just haven't had a minute to return any calls.”

 

“Or texts either,” the concern that had been there only a second ago was now gone and his manager's stern voice told Josh all he needed. The guy was pissed. “I'm just going to go ahead and assume your phone is broken, because I know you're not avoiding my calls and texts.”

 

“What are you now, my mother?” He hated himself for sounding like a spoiled kid, but he wasn't in the mood to get lectured by his employee. “I know what you want to know, and the answer is, I don't know yet.”

 

“Josh, the show is a week away. The whole town is buzzing over it. Between the movie's trailer and Rebel Wilson hosting...we're looking at a hell of a promotional opportunity here.”

 

“Yeah,” Josh sighed. “I know, but I'm just not sure if I want to halt production here just so I can spend a night being hounded by the press.”

 

“Josh, the press is how you sell yourself, and make no mistake, that is what business you're in.” His manager was about to go into the long winded speech Josh had heard a million times, but it was too late to put a stop to it. “If you want to work in this industry, you need to look at yourself as a product. You've got to market that product, and make sure that product is what people want. You've got to sell that product at every given moment. No one can make that happen but you.”

 

“Funny, I thought that's why I hired you,” Josh hadn't meant to snap at the man, but being pressured into something, as well as being referred to as a product over and over again, never sat well with him.

 

“I find the opportunities. You make them happen.” There was a pregnant pause on both ends of the phone. “They're going to need an answer, Josh. Sooner rather than later or else-”

 

“Or else what?” He could feel his jaw getting tight as he said, “You think MTV is going to say, no we don't want him here, if I tell them yes at the last minute?”

 

“I'm sure they won't, but you don't want to develop a reputation for being indecisive or unreliable.”

 

“Unreliable?” Josh spat into the phone's receiver. “Is that what they're saying?”

 

“No one is saying that. I'm simply telling you what could happen if you start acting like a big shot,” if there was one thing Josh was grateful for was his manager's refusal to kiss his ass. The guy had always told it like it was unlike a lot of people in his position. “Out of the three of you, Jennifer is the one everybody is fighting for, and you're still...”

 

“Yeah I know what I am,” he interrupted with disgust in his voice. “I'm still the Disney kid.”

 

_Thanksgiving had been uneventful, almost boring, which was absolutely perfect in Josh's mind. Between filming Catching Fire, negotiations for an upcoming film, scheduling his shoot in Panama, and the press he had to do, he was bordering on burn out. Handling situations like these were normally a breeze, but the workouts he had to go through in order to get in “fighting” shape took a lot of energy. Sure he was pumped up afterward, but a few hours after a rigorous workout Josh could feel muscles he never knew existed, screaming out in pain._

 

_Josh strolled across the lot where the trailers were parked while on location in Hawaii in the early morning hours. The sight of Jennifer's trailer perked him up and his feet began to pick up the pace. “Open up Hollywood ho,” he said through a smile as he banged on Jennifer's door._

 

“ _I'd rather be a Hollywood ho than a Disney kid,” Jennifer's smile spread across her face as she let him in. “About time you showed up,” she threw her arms around his neck and held tight._

 

_A small grunt came out of him as he attempted to hug her and close the door at the same time. “Hey there.” He could feel his heart racing uncontrollably as he held her body close to his, and felt her press a tiny kiss against his ear. “I missed you.”_

 

“ _I missed you too,” Jennifer pulled slightly back and gave him a friendly smack on the lips. “I missed you a lot.”_

 

“ _How was your Thanksgiving?” They pulled apart, though somewhat reluctantly on his part._

 

“ _Fine…good,” her tone was uncertain as she answered him._

 

“ _Do anything fun?”_

 

“ _I ate.” She turned her back to him and plopped down on the sofa. “I ate a lot. You?”_

 

“ _I ate,” he took a spot next to her, “but not a lot.” He gave his head a little shake and let out a tiny chuckle. “I love my mom. I really do.”_

 

“ _That’s because you’re a momma’s boy.”_

 

“ _Thank you,” he barely paused before adding, “but that woman can’t cook a turkey to save her life.”_

 

_Jen let out a little laugh then went eerily silent._

 

“ _So all you did was eat?” There was something bothering her. He could tell the second she wrapped her arms around his neck a little too tightly, and kissed him hello. It’s not that she had never done that before, but there was a tiny air of desperation about her actions today. “Anything else happen?”_

 

“ _Not much.” She began playing with the ends of her newly dyed brown hair. “I ate. Did some shopping. Had a photo shoot. Got dumped. Did a couple of intervie-“_

 

“ _Whoa. Whoa! Hold up a sec,” he held his hand out to her. “Say that again.”_

 

“ _Did a couple of interviews. Nothing major. Though my publicist thinks every interview I do will either have a disastrous effect on my career or make me that much more-“_

 

“ _Stop it,” Josh sat straight up and faced her. She had always been good at avoiding topics when things got too sticky, but she had brought this up and he wasn’t going to let it drop. “You got dumped?”_

 

“ _Oh.” She flopped her head back against the sofa cushion. “That.” A miniscule breath of air was forced out from between her pink tinged lips. “Yeah. I got dumped.”_

 

_There were a few different ways he could handle this news. He could try to push aside the miniature Josh inside of him currently doing a dance of joy and feign sorrow, or he could try to make light out of the situation. Since she was surrounded by people that were constantly kissing her ass these days, he chose to do what he always did when she was upset. “So Nick finally came out.”_

 

“ _Huh?” Her brows knit together as she rolled her head in his direction._

 

“ _Him admitting that he prefers men is the only logical explanation I can come up with as to why he...anyone would break up with you.” He scooted closer to her, picked up her hand and bounced it on his thigh. “And even then I’m not so sure most men would end it with you.”_

 

_The sound of her chortle had him smiling. “Thank you, Josh.” She rested her head against his shoulder and let out a sigh._

 

“ _For what?”_

 

“ _For not instantly saying how sorry you are or getting that look on your face that says you feel horrible for me.”_

 

“ _Nah. Why would I do that?” He wouldn’t. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Nick, he just didn’t think he was the right guy for her. The more successful she got the more Nick seemed to assert his position as the man in her life. If she did an interview Nick's first question wasn't whether or not it went well, but what she said about him. “I am sorry though, Jen. I know how much you loved him.” Which Josh hated. Maybe hate was too strong of a word? He didn’t quite hate it, he resented it. He had developed a crush on Jennifer quite a while ago, but who wouldn’t? The woman was amazing. Chalking his feelings up to the side effects of working so closely with the woman, he put it to the back of his mind. Josh simply enjoyed their wacky friendship along with their constant flirting which neither one of them took seriously._

 

“ _I guess,” she said in reply to his statement about loving Nick._

 

“ _You guess?”_

 

_She gave her shoulder a little shrug. “I mean…of course I loved him, but I don’t think I was in love with him or anything. I think I might have been in the beginning, but then it just sort of…I don’t know.” She turned her entire body and tucked her bare toes under his thigh, hugging her knees to her chest. “It became…comfortable.”_

 

“ _Isn’t comfortable good?” He rubbed her ankles not thinking a thing of it._

 

“ _Yes, but…” she tucked her hair behind her ear, “…maybe that’s not the right word?” She sat for a few seconds before saying, “Convenient.”_

 

“ _Ah,” he dragged the word out. “That is a far cry from comfortable, Jen.”_

 

“ _Yeah, I know, but by the end that’s what it turned into.” She rested her chin on her knees and stared at Josh. “We turned into a relationship of convenience. It was nice knowing you always had a date for a premiere without the press making speculations about who you were with. Neither one of us wanted our love lives to outshine the work we've been doing.” Having your relationship difficulties, or successes publicized was the nasty part of their business. “Nick was brave enough to face up to our problems, and I was fine with keeping things the way they were.”_

 

“ _Convenient?”_

 

“ _Yeah,” she had a blank look in her eyes. “I was fine with it when he said he thought we should end things before they got ugly.”_

 

“ _He didn’t even want to try and work it out?” Josh found the idea of not fighting for Jennifer a little farfetched._

 

“ _No, he wanted us to stay together. For me to make some sort of…commitment I guess, but how could I do that?” She turned away from him and rested her cheek on her knee, staring at the opposite wall._

 

“ _I don’t understand.” He ran his fingers over the hair that had gotten stuck to her cheek and brushed it away from her mouth. “He wanted a commitment? Like…marriage or something?”_

 

“ _Not marriage, but he wanted me to put more into the relationship than I have been lately. Then what I’d be able to put into it over the next few years.”_

 

“ _And that’s why he broke up with you.” Josh finally caught on. Nick had finally showed her his true colors, “Because you wouldn’t choose him over your career.”_

 

“ _Pretty much. Yeah.”_

 

“ _Hey,” he gave her cheek a stroke before turning her face towards his. “That’s how you know it wasn’t meant to be.” He could see the question in her eyes as to his logic. “First off, if he was the right one for you, he’d never ask you to sacrifice a thing when it came to your career. It’s not like you two have kids that need to be looked after or anything. Secondly, when the right guy comes along, he’ll be the one that would willingly give up everything just to be with you.” Josh could feel her eyes boring into his. “That guy will take more pleasure in seeing you succeed, than succeeding himself.”_

 

“ _Yeah, good luck finding that in our business.”_

 

“ _I think you can. At least I hope that sort of person exists.” He ducked his head down a bit. “I’m sort of counting on it.”_

 

“ _Why are you counting on it?” An innocent expression twinkled in her eyes._

 

_He pondered for a second or two before answering. “For some reason, I always thought that the person I spent my life with, if she were in the industry, would be worth giving up my acting career for.”_

 

“ _You mean…you’d give it up for her and not the other way around?”_

 

“ _Sure. If I was certain she were the one.” He trailed a finger over her nose then tapped the end of it lightly. “I’d give everything up for the woman I loved, and she wouldn’t even have to ask.”_

 

_Jen graced him with a tender smile. “You’re one of the rare ones, Josh. Whoever that girl is, I hope she knows how special you are.”_

 

“ _Well, you’ll tell her, won’t you?” He gave her shoulder a little nudge._

 

“ _I better not have to.” She sat upright and threw her legs over his looking somewhat perkier. “So…your mom ruined the turkey, huh?”_

 

_Josh hopped onto the next topic with humor in his voice. “You know that scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation when they’re all sitting around the table and Clark cuts open the turkey and there’s nothing but a dried up carcass and a puff of smoke?” He could already see Jennifer’s smile at his choice of narrative. “Well, that bird was moist compared to what we had for Thanksgiving.”_

 

“ _Oh God,” she giggled. “Was Driver under the table hocking up pieces of the bird?” She started making loud choking noises, recreating the scene from the movie._

 

“ _No,” his playful banter joined hers, “but I did say, ‘save the neck for me, Clark.’” They both let out a hint of laughter, but where his ended with a smile, hers ended in tears. “Oh, Jen,” he pulled her into his lap and hugged her tightly as she cried into his neck. “It’ll be okay. I’m sure everyone’s said this already, but give yourself some time to get over him.”_

 

“ _That’s the thing,” she pulled away from him and wiped at her eyes with the hem of her shirt. “I meant it when I said I was fine with it being over.”_

 

_He didn’t quite understand what she was saying. “Then why are you crying?”_

 

“ _Because…because I’m okay. I should be crying, right? I should be a hot mess over this. I spent two years with him, and all I keep thinking about is how hard it’s going to be when I do meet someone else. How will I know if they like me for who I am, and not for what I represent?” Tears fell down her cheeks effortlessly. “The worst part is when I think about me and Nick now...I wasn’t even the real me with him.” He reached up and wiped her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “Do you know I had to jump up and leave the room every time I needed to fart?” Josh choked on his laughter. “It’s not funny,” she swatted his shoulder._

 

“ _Yes it is. You’re crying because you’re afraid you won’t find someone you can…fart in front of,” he laughed again. “Sorry, Jen, but that’s funny.”_

 

“ _When you put it that way,” she smiled through her tears. “I’m serious though. He was always so…proper.” She rolled her eyes up in her head. “Him and his fucking British upbringing.”_

 

“ _Brit’s don’t get gas?”_

 

“ _There’s a place for that sort of thing, Jennifer,” she said with an English accent. “Good God. It was my house. If I wanted to belch in the middle of dinner, so what?”_

 

“ _Well, at least it was only a burp,” he teased lightly._

 

“ _After that I’d jump up and rush to another room if I had to pass gas or something. Christ, I never farted in front of him!” She gave Josh's chest a little shove with the palm of her hand._

 

“ _In two years?” He asked with raised brows. “Damn. You knew me all of an hour before you were letting loose.”_

 

“ _Exactly!” Her eyes became brighter and her cheeks a little rosier. “I can do that sort of thing in front of you, and you don’t care.”_

 

“ _No,” he corrected her. “I care, but I’m thankful you feel that comfortable with me.”_

 

“ _Aw,” she dropped her head back. “See?” She spread her hands open with the palms facing up. “That’s what I mean. How am I ever going to find someone that can appreciate my flatulence?” She rested her hands on his shoulders. “I can just see it now. I'll be a bitchy old maid. I'll die all alone surrounded by my six dozen cats, all of whom hate me.”_

 

“ _Tell you what,” he gripped her around the waist and rested his forehead against hers. “Let’s make a deal. If neither one of us is married by the time you’re thirty, I’ll marry your gassy ass.”_

 

_The tip of her tongue poked out from between her teeth as she smiled. “Promise?”_

 

“ _Promise. Just don’t let yourself go to shit. If I’m going to pity marry you, I’m going to want you to put out, and I’d rather your ass not be the size of this trailer.” He pulled away from her. “Your tits however…those can get as big as houses for all I care.” Her laughter joined his._

 

“ _God I missed you,” she gave him one more hug before sliding her feet to the ground and standing up. “All you Disney kids are so fucking sweet.” She turned on her heels. “Correction. All you Disney boys are sweet. Those girls turn into sluts.”_

 

“ _Oh stop it,” he got up and stretched his aching muscles. “They are not.”_

 

“ _I’m sorry,” she gasped. “Who was it that sent naked pictures of herself via text message to you?”_

 

_He knew exactly who she was talking about. “She did not send them to me,” he defended his ex-girlfriend. “She sent them to one of her other boyfriends.”_

 

“ _Slut,” she opened the mini fridge and took out two bottles of water, tossing one to him. “And I saw those pictures too.” She got a quizzical look on her face. “You think with all that High School Musical money the girl could have afforded a bikini wax, but nooooo. She let her bush grow wild.”_

 

“ _Will you stop talking about Vanessa that way,” he had to force himself not to cave into Jennifer's bait._

 

_Jennifer uncapped her water, took a long swig and pointed at him. “So tell me Josh, when you went down on her was it like trudging through the jungles of Jumanji?” She let out a ripple of laughter, and as hard as he tried to keep a straight face, he couldn't help the obnoxious guffaw that burst out of him. “Oh...oh...what was Simba's father's name again?”_

 

“ _Mufasa?”_

 

“ _YES!” She slammed the bottle of water onto the table causing a small amount to splash out. “That was your pet name for her, wasn't it?”_

 

“ _Knock it off,” his cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “She a nice girl.”_

 

_She said it again only this time when she said it, she accentuated each syllable of the name, “Mufasa!”_

 

_He jumped up and started poking at her ribs where he knew she was ticklish and laughed along with her. “Mufasa's a nice girl.” He hadn't meant to say that. “I mean Vanessa!” The eruption of laughter that came from Jennifer made him feel a little bit better knowing that the tears were gone for now._

 

“ _Ooh, I can't breathe,” she smacked at his hands, forcing him to stop his tickling just as a “pffft,” noise escaped from her. “Oh, sorry,” she laughed some more._

 

“ _For goodness sake, Jen.” He waved his hand in front of his nose pretending that the gas she released was odorous. “My eyes! My eyes!”_

 

“ _Did I blind you?” She yanked at his hands which he had thrown over his eyes for effect. “Count your blessings. Now you won't have to look at that nasty Jumanji bush anymore.”_

 

“ _Oh my God,” he shook his head. “Remind me again why I associate with you.”_

 

“ _I honestly have no clue, but if you're thinking you're going to back out of that marriage deal, you're high.” She stood nose to nose with him, her lashes drooped, and she ran her fingers up the center of his chest. “Come my thirtieth birthday, you're mine.”_

 

_They had always been able to flirt without consequence, but now that there was no Nick between them, Josh allowed himself a little bit of pleasure in her closeness. “Don't worry, Jen. I'll be at your door at the stroke of midnight wearing a pretty pink ribbon, just waiting for you to unwrap me.”_

 

“ _Oooh,” she wagged her brows at him. “I can't wait to see that cute little ass of yours up close and personal.”_

 

_The knock on her door before her assistant entered informing them that they were needed in makeup came just in time as far as Josh was concerned. It suddenly dawned on him he had to be careful now that she was single, and there was no one standing in his way._

 

 

“...by the end of the day. Josh?” His manager said a little louder, “Josh.”

 

He struggled to recall what it was his manager had just said. Something about the end of the day. Taking a chance Josh asked, “They need their answer by the end of today?”

 

“That's what I've been telling you,” his manager answered.

 

“Mr. Hutcherson,” his assistant spoke quietly and pointed towards the makeup team that were waiting on him.

 

“Look, I need more time to decide.” The simple fact that he hadn't come right out and declined said a lot to Josh. “I'll let you know by mid-week.”

 

“That's cutting it kind of close, Josh. The show is on Sunday.”

 

“If you want an answer right now, then I'm going to have to say no, but if you give me till Wednesday to think it through-” He let the implication hang in the air.

 

“Okay, I'll tell them I'm trying to work through some things in your schedule.”

 

“Sounds good,” Josh glanced over to the makeup station. “I've got to go. They're waiting on me.”

 

“Talk to you Wednesday. And Josh...make sure you answer your phone.”

 

Without saying goodbye he handed the phone back to his assistant, dug his own cell out of his pocket and handed that over to her too. “If anyone calls, I'm busy.”

 

“Anyone? Including your-”

 

“Anyone,” he said sharply then paused, “but Jennifer.” He resented the desperation in his tone when he said her name, and forced thoughts of her to the back of his mind, only to have them resurface like a tidal wave when the makeup artist had him lift his arm in order to cover one of his tattoos.

 

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

 

“The trailer for Catching Fire is going to be premiering at this weekend's MTV Movie Awards.” The reporter pierced Jennifer with an inquisitive stare. “Any plans on attending?”

 

It was the question everyone that worked for her wanted an answer to, and yet Jennifer still hadn't given a straight answer. “It's a little hard breaking away from a movie for an awards show. Everyone is on such a tight schedule. Plus X-men starts filming in Montreal on the 15th.” It was far from an answer, but it was the best she had.

 

“Do you know if your costar will be going?”

 

“I'm not the right person to ask. I have no clue what Josh's schedule is,” Jennifer tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and adjusted her position in her chair.

 

“I meant Bradley,” The reporter clarified.

 

She tried not to show embarrassment and went for the laugh. “Well here,” she pretended to look through something on her phone. “I've got Bradley's schedule here so let me take a look. Hmmm...back waxing with Ulna...” Jennifer laughed along with the reporter. “Seriously, I have no clue what my own schedule looks like let alone my costars. You should probably ask him.”

 

The reporter gave her a nod and moved onto the next line of questions. Questions Jennifer wasn't prepared for. “A few months back some photos surface of you and your Hunger Games costar smoking in your hotel rooms.” Jennifer could feel the anger bubbling in the pit of her stomach and fought not to show it. “Rumors were flying about as to what the nature of those cigarettes was.” If Jennifer wasn't absolutely positive she'd get sued, she’d have smacked that arrogant look off the reporter's face. “Any comment on that?”

 

“Sure,” She threw her hands up in the air. “I'm just grateful they didn't catch me with my crack pipe and animal porn.” Again she laughed it off, but this time the reporter just chuckled and continued questioning her actions.

 

“Some say that you may have been a bad influence of Josh Hutcherson. That he had never done that sort of thing before he met you.”

 

“You've got that all wrong,” it was the first straight answer she had given during this horrendous interview. “Josh was the one that influenced my life for the better.”

 

“I hate to interrupt but she's needed back on set,” Jennifer's publicist cut in a few minutes too late.

 

“Thank you so much, Jennifer,” the reporter from yet another magazine stood up and offered her hand. “It was a pleasure.”

 

“The pleasure was mine,” Jennifer smiled and shook the woman's hand thinking the exact opposite.

 

“Jen, we've got to get you into makeup,” Liz was obviously lying since she led Jennifer away from that area. Once they were out of earshot she said, “I'm sorry. I should have prepared you for that.”

 

“I thought you told those people not to bring up Josh,” Jennifer snapped.

 

“I did. I told them that you were working on a new movie now and wanted to keep the interview focused on that.”

 

“It's not like Catching Fire isn't going to get enough fucking press. I don't need those people bringing up Josh every time I talk to them.” The fact that the reporter had brought up drug use and asked about the rumors to her and Bradley having a relationship never once fazed Jennifer. “That's it. No more interviews while I'm trying to work.” She could hear herself acting like a total bitch, and despised what she was slowly turning into. “Liz,” Jennifer let out a burst of air, “I'm sorry. I know you can't control what these people ask me about, and whether or not they'll bring him up.”

 

Liz crossed her arms over her chest and gave Jennifer a smarmy grin. “Technically, you were the one that brought him up, not the reporter.”

 

“Oh, I did not,” Jennifer waved the accusation off.

 

“Lydia asked about your costar, and you immediately thought she was talking about Josh.”

 

“That's so not...” Jennifer's brows shot up. “Oh my God. You're right.”

 

“I'm always right,” her publicist headed for Jennifer's trailer and held the door open. “You've got forty-five minutes,” she said when they entered the quiet little space. “I won't ask if you've made up your mind yet about the awards show.” Jennifer flashed Liz an evil glare. “I said I wasn't asking.”

 

“Which loosely translates into, hurry up and make up your mind so we can shoot something for MTV to play on air.”

 

“Nope,” Liz stood perfectly still. “I know this decision is more than just whether or not you're going to publicize the movie, Jen.” She took a seat and gave Jennifer's leg a pat. “When it comes to your life's choices, no one should be rushing you.”

 

“I already made my choice,” Jen sighed and plopped her feet up on a chair. “Didn't I?” She looked to Liz who had been the only person other than Josh's publicist that knew the truth.

 

“If you had then saying yes or no to MTV wouldn't be bothering you so much.” Liz got up to leave. “In case you're wondering, he hasn't confirmed or denied yet either.”

 

“He hasn't?”

 

Liz shook her head. “Angie said he's been avoiding the question like the plague.”

 

Jennifer sat straight up. “You've been talking to Angie?”

 

“We sort of...bonded during this thing between you and Josh,” Liz gave her a halfhearted smile. “We're actually rooting for the two of you regardless of what decision you guys make.” Liz tapped at her watch. “Remember, forty-five minutes. Try to stay out of trouble.”

 

“'kay.” Jennifer picked up her X-men script, blindly thumbing through it, and then tossed it onto the table. Her cell was sitting next to it, staring at her. Almost daring her to pick it up and call him. She felt the weight of it in her hand and debated what to do. “Just call him,” she whispered to herself and pulled up his contact information. She laughed when she saw the number of texts they had sent to one another, and began scrolling through them, randomly stopping here and there to read some of the messages he had sent to her.

 

“Bring me a donut,” Josh had texted her at seven-thirty that night.

 

“Fuck you. I'm the star of this movie. You should be bringing me food,” she remembered laughing when she sent that reply, and all that followed.

 

_Jennifer reached for her cell at the sound of Josh's voice, “Mmmm, that's nice.” Every time she heard it she chuckled to herself. Josh had given her a strange look when he heard his own voice coming from her phone followed up by it vibrating, and asked her, “What the hell was that?”_

 

“ _Like it? It's my new notification sound,” Jennifer quickly switched her tone to a seductive one. “My phone loves it when you make it vibrate. Mmmm, that's nice,” she licked her lips before letting out a loud laugh._

 

“ _You're a sick woman, Jennifer. You need help.”_

 

“ _Want me to put one on your phone? One of the guys gave me a bunch of audio clips from the movie, and I thought they were funny.”_

 

“ _Jen, we live, eat...breathe this movie. I don't need your voice to be my new ringtone too.” Josh closed one eye and gave her a thoughtful look. “Now Elizabeth's voice...that's another story.”_

 

“ _Shut up,” she smacked at his shoulder. “So you almost done?”_

 

“ _I am done. Just wanted to see how you were holding up.” The day before she had dumped all of her problems on Josh about her breakup with Nick and since then he wouldn't stop doting on her. No one else knew about it on set, so it was nice to have someone understand when she suddenly felt like crying and why._

 

“ _I'm okay,” she squeezed his hand. “Of course I'd be better if I they put vodka in these water bottles,” she held up her drink and gave it a little shake._

 

“ _Vodka?” He leaned into her ear and whispered, “What if I had something better than vodka?”_

 

“ _What?” She asked with wide eyes._

 

“ _How much longer are you going to be here?”_

 

“ _Francis said I'd be done before nine, but you know how that goes.”_

 

“ _Too bad for you,” he opened his palm up to show her a hand rolled cigarette._

 

“ _You suck,” she glared at him._

 

_Josh's shoulders began to shake as he chuckled. “You gotta work. You gotta work,” he chanted like a schoolyard boy._

 

“ _Where did you get that anyway?” She asked him._

 

“ _From your trailer,” Josh shoved the joint back into his pocket._

 

“ _You took my-” She sat upright with eyes wide open._

 

“ _You shouldn't be doing this sort of thing, Miss. Lawrence,” he gave his pocket a tap. “… Especially on set.”_

 

“ _I wasn't going to smoke it here,” She pouted. “I was saving it for when I got back to my hotel room.”_

 

“ _Yeah, because that's what the hotel wants you to be doing in their suites.”_

 

“ _Fuck you,” she leered at him with not one ounce of contempt behind it._

 

“ _You keep offering, and yet...” he gave her an impish grin, “...I still haven't tapped that ass.”_

 

“ _Oh God,” she let out a groan. “Don't ever say, tap that ass again.”_

 

“ _Didn't work for me, huh?” He grimaced playfully._

 

“ _That was about as good as your white boy rap.”_

 

“ _You're needed Miss. Lawrence,” a voice called to her._

 

“ _Gotta go. I'm needed,” she hopped up off of the chair and was stopped by Josh's arm wrapping around her waist._

 

“ _Yes you are. I need you,” he kissed her temple, and she could have sworn her heart skipped a beat. “Text me when you're through. Maybe I'll give this thing back to you,” he patted at his pants pocket as he walked off._

 

_Shooting for the first twenty minutes or so after that was a challenge. Then Francis pulled her aside and asked, “What do you think Katniss is thinking while she's standing on this platform?”_

 

_It was easy enough to answer. Suzanne had written out Katniss' thoughts in the book. “She wants to do Cinna proud. Make sure his death was worth something. She wants to show the people of the districts that they can fight back.”_

 

“ _And?”_

 

“ _And,” Jennifer searched for the answer her director was looking for. “And she wants to make sure Peeta survives the Games.”_

 

“ _Peeta,” Francis said quietly. “What is Katniss thinking about him right now?”_

 

_The one thing she knew about acting was try to draw on personal emotions. She began thinking like Katniss, and the confusing emotions she was facing regarding Peeta, but would her character be thinking of something like that right before fighting for her life. “She's not fighting for her life,” Jennifer said to herself. “She's fighting for Peeta's life.”_

 

“ _Exactly,” Francis said._

 

_Thoughts of Josh as Peeta began to fill her mind; the way he looked at her during their scenes together. The way he touched her. He always looked like he was in love no matter what the scenario. He got that far off look in his eyes sort of like he did before he told her he needed her. A mixture of confused emotions began to pour through her. Was Josh teasing her or was he serious? And if he was serious, was his comment directed her in a platonic sense or was there something more behind his words...his look...his touch?_

 

“ _Let's go ahead and take this again,” Francis took his spot in the director's chair while Jennifer stood on the platform about to dive into the body of water. “And...action.”_

 

_Jennifer didn't know what her expressions were reading, only what was going through her mind. Little things about Josh began resurfacing. The way they constantly teased each other; the way he made her forget her problems. How comfortable she was in her own skin around him. And at the last second she pictured Josh having his life threatened, not Peeta. Her face grew hard and determined. Her eyes flashed towards the area where they had the countdown clock, and she imagined having to get to Josh. Her hands formed a triangle over her head and the second she heard Francis' voice say, “Now,” Jennifer jumped into the ocean and swam for dear life. “YES! Cut!” Francis called out to her, and though she stopped swimming, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that Josh needed her shook her soul._

 

_The wardrobe team dried her off. The makeup team touched up her hair, but were told they were done for the day. Francis didn't think they'd get a more perfect shot than what she had given him. “It's only seven-forty,” Jennifer stripped out of her costume and into her street clothes._

 

“ _Guess you can get some sleep tonight, for a change,” one of the women from wardrobe commented before exiting the trailer._

 

_Jennifer played with the cellphone, contemplating whether or not to tell Josh she was through for the night. When she realized she was acting like an insecure teenage girl she picked up the phone and sent him a text saying she was done early, starving, and that she wanted candy._

 

“ _ **Bring me a donut,”**_ _Josh texted her._

 

“ _ **Fuck you. I'm the star of this movie. You should be bringing me food,”** she replied._

 

“ _ **Chocolate with sprinkles. Thanks,”** he texted her._

 

_She chuckled as she headed towards Craft Services to see if there was anything left before they put the food away for the night. “Don't suppose you have any donuts left?” She asked one of the women who went on the hunt, and returned with a box of a dozen. Two of which were chocolate covered with sprinkles. “Thanks.” Her mind went blank as she traveled back to the hotel, and headed up to her room._

 

“ _Mmmm, that's nice.”_

 

_Jennifer jumped when she realized the sound of Josh's voice was coming from behind her and not from her phone. “Joshua,” she fumbled for the card that would let her into her suite, “you scared the shit out of me.”_

 

“ _Oooh, you brought me donuts,” he stole the box from her and followed her into her room, placing it on one of the end tables. “And you got me my favorite.” He picked out one of the sprinkle covered donuts and took a huge bite out of it._

 

“ _Yes, I did. Now give me back my joint,” she held her hand opened. It didn’t surprise her in the least that he hadn't smoked it. He wasn't a stranger to pot, but he didn't do it often._

 

“ _You are going to share that with me, right?” He polished off the rest of the snack with two bites._

 

“ _Maybe,” she went to the balcony to open the door. Walked back into the main living area and lit it up. “Here,” she handed it to him. “Want a drink?”_

 

“ _No, this is fine.” He kicked back on a chair and let his head fall back. “Aren't you afraid you're being stalked by the paparazzi?” He looked to the open drapery._

 

“ _You mean that fat guy who has no life?” There weren't a lot of paparazzi hounding them right now. They were more interested in sneaking shots of the set._

 

“ _There's a skinny one too.”_

 

“ _So we've got two now? There's got to be someone we can call and complain to. I mean, this is Catching fucking Fire. This set should be crawling with those scum.”_

 

“ _Tell me about it,” Josh reached for the hotel phone and pretended to dial. “Yeah, operator. Miss. Lawrence and I would like to file a formal complaint. There aren't enough photographers hounding us. Uh...me? I'm Josh Hutcherson.” Jennifer giggled. “I play her love interest in the Hunger Games. Um...no, that's Liam Hemsworth. I'm the other guy. No that's Woody Harrelson.” Jennifer let out a huge burst of laughter as Josh continued his little game. “No, I'm not new to acting. Um...Bridge to Terabithia, The Kids Are Alright, Journey to the Center of the Earth...” He put a hand over the mouthpiece and whispered to Jennifer, “I think she's finally remembering me.” Then went back to talking to no one. “Oh, I did the sequel...well, sort of the sequel to Jumanji. Zathura.”_

 

“ _Tell her about dating Mufasa. She'll remember you then,” Jen played along._

 

“ _Oh, uh...I dated Vanessa Hudgens for a while. No...no, Zac Efron isn't in the Hunger Games.” Jennifer clutched her stomach from laughing so hard, and fell onto the floor. Josh hung up the phone and joined her on the floor, saying through laughter, “This is only funny because we're wasted.”_

 

“ _You...you...” Jennifer rolled towards him trying to spit out her sentence through fits of laughter. “You should have told her...you were...were the short one.”_

 

“ _Now you tell me!” He threw his hand in the air, reached for the phone and said, “Yeah, operator. This is Josh Hutcherson again. I'm the short one.” He hung up the phone and nodded. “Yup. She knew me.”_

 

“ _Oh my God,” Jennifer let out a sigh as she rolled over to face him. The butt of their joint was sitting burnt out in the bottom of a glass. “I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.”_

 

“ _Then my job is done here,” he sat up and dusted his hands off. “Where do I pick up my paycheck?”_

 

“ _Sorry, I don't have any money.”_

 

“ _That's okay, you can trade sexual favors for my services,” he poked at her ribs._

 

“ _Sounds good to me,” She threw her leg over his lap and straddled him. “What do you say? Want to fool around?”_

 

“ _Is the pope catholic?”_

 

“ _I don't know,” she shrugged her shoulders. “Is he?”_

 

“ _Shut up,” he gave her upper thigh a swat. “Get off of me. Pot makes me horny and if you stay on my lap I'm going to take you up on that sexual favor thing.”_

 

_Instead of getting up she leaned over him, “Go ahead. I dare you.”_

 

“ _Oh, now you're daring me?” With one arm around her waist he rolled them onto her back and lay on top of her. “I never back down from a dare, but I'm afraid I'll have to this time. I don't have any condoms.”_

 

_She had no idea why she was acting this way with him. Maybe it was the joint they had smoked combined with her lack of sleep. They always said flirtatious, sometimes exceptionally inappropriate things to one another, but they had never gotten this close or physical before. “I'm on the pill,” she had meant to say it as a joke, but her tone was suddenly serious._

 

_It took Josh about three seconds to question her with his eyes, and then his tone. “Jen?”_

 

“Jen? Jen?” Her head snapped around at the sound of her publicist’s voice. “They need you back on set.”

 

“Oh, sure,” she looked down at her cellphone and noticed that her forty-five minutes had come and gone. She swiped her finger over the screen instantly illuminating Josh's messages and scrolled to the last one.

 

“ **Goodnight, Jen. I miss you.”**

 

“Liz,” she hit a button bringing her back to her home screen. “I think I made my decision. Tell MTV I'll film a spot if they want, but I can't get away.”

 

“You sure, Jen?”

 

“No,” and she wasn't, “but that's the way it has to be.” She had her career...her future to think about.

 

 


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow Josh and Jen as their friendship turning into something neither one of them knows how to handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Mel and Lo for the help and inspiration

Intimate Strangers  
By: Jamie Sommers  
Rated NC-17 for sexual situations, language, drinking and drug use

This is a work of fiction. I am merely playing in the sandbox of my imagination. I don't know these people. I will never meet these people, but God knows I'd love to.

Intimate Strangers: Part Two

“If you could just move your arm for me please?” The makeup person began applying a light coating of flesh tone spray on Josh's skin, covering the anchor he had tattooed on his side. “This will only take a few minutes.”

“Take your time,” Josh leaned his hand on one of the high back chairs and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He did a double take when he saw the back of his costar's head. Her dark hair was flowing past her shoulders as a man bent over her applying the last touches of color to her lips. He pulled his eyes away from the reflection and closed them. Memories of seeing Jen's reflection in the makeup trailer kept going through his mind. They had never struggled for conversation, and always made each other laugh, causing the team of cosmetologists to quietly moan in frustration while getting prepped for filming with the exception of one morning in particular. Josh let out a small groan. The muscles in his stomach clenched as he damned himself for ever giving into his urges at Jennifer's offer.

“Want to fool around?” He was sure Jennifer was joking when she made the suggestion.

“Is the pope catholic?”

“I don't know,” she gave him a serious look before shrugging her shoulders. “Is he?”

“Shut up.” He had no clue if she was teasing him or not, but he did know she had to get off of his lap. He lightly swatted at her thigh and said, “Get off of me. Pot makes me horny and if you stay on my lap I'm going to take you up on that sexual favor thing.”

The second she pressed herself against him and said with a thick voice,“Go ahead. I dare you,” he knew he was in trouble, but there was no way he could cave into the desires he had developed since he first set eyes on her.

“Oh, now you're daring me?” With one arm around her waist he rolled them onto her back and lay on top of her. “I never back down from a dare, but I'm afraid I'll have to this time. I don't have any condoms,” he was about to get off of her, and grab another donut. Shoving food in his mouth seemed like the only thing that would prevent him from saying something stupid.

There was no humor in her voice, and her eyes grew cloudy when she said, “I'm on the pill.” 

His brain began churning out a million questions per millisecond. Was she being serious? Didn't she just break up with someone she had been in a relationship with for two years? Did he want to be the rebound guy? He was ready to ask her said questions, but the only thing he could seem to get out was, “Jen?”

“Josh?” She let out a nervous giggle.

He rolled off of her and sat with his back up against the base of a chair. “What are you asking?”

“I thought I was pretty clear when I asked if you wanted to fool around,” she got up and poured a glass of red wine, took a large sip, and said, “You sure you don't want anything?”

His hand automatically shot out for her glass and chugged the entire thing. The dry red wine did nothing to satisfy his sudden need for a drink.“Got something harder than this?”

She gestured towards the mini bar, and poured another glass of wine, draining the bottle that had already been opened. “Fuck it's hot in here.”

“You left the door open.” The hot Hawaiian breeze had to be the reason for the increase in temperature in her suite. He looked over the bottles of booze the hotel had to offer. “There's shit in here.”

“What do you want?” Jennifer walked to the phone. “I'll order it from downstairs.”

“You don't have to,” he picked up a bottle of whiskey. “Fuck, I can't drink this shit.”

He could hear her speaking into the phone, “Can you send up a bottle of Macallan Single Malt.” There was a pause. “Twenty-one. Thanks.” She hung up, sipped at her glass and headed for the opened balcony door. “It'll be up in a few minutes.” Instead of closing the door she stepped out onto the balcony and Josh was grateful. He really needed a few minutes to pull himself together. “Hey,” she walked back into the room and locked the balcony's sliding glass door. “I' m going to jump in the shower. Do me a favor and sign for room service.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Josh stared across the hotel room at her back as she walked into her bedroom and shut the door with her foot. He ran a finger nervously under his nose thinking, if she had turned around and made the offer again, he'd probably race into the room behind her, but she hadn't done that. She didn't say another word about it, and acted like there nothing had passed between the two of them. He told himself she was kidding, and he was overreacting about a million times over until room service showed up. He signed for the bottle of twenty-one year old, single malt scotch, pulled out his wallet and handed the man a hefty tip. Not only for his services, but his silence. It wasn't Josh's room, and he wasn't old enough to purchase the alcohol. “Thanks,” he glanced at the man's name tag, “Chilo?”

“Native island name,” the man answered. 

“Well, thanks for your services, Chilo.” Josh had learned the hard way how important it was to know who it was delivering his booze to him in case the staff decided to talk. Ninety-nine percent of the time, if you knew the name of the person, they didn't say a word for fear of losing their job.

“My pleasure, sir.” 

Josh closed the door, opened the bottle and poured himself a double. He tapped his fingers against the table, downed the single malt, then poured another. By the time Jennifer came back into the room he had a pretty good buzz going on, plus a terrible case of the munchies. 

“I want pizza,” were the first words out of Jennifer's mouth upon entering. “Think they've got Hawaiian pizza here?” She giggled and went straight for the glass of booze he had poured her.

“We're in Hawaii. Wouldn't they just call it...pizza.” He took another swig of his drink, enjoying the sense of calm the mixture of alcohol and pot had provided him with. “You know, like when you're in China. They don't say, hey let's grab some Chinese food. They say, let's go grab some food.”

“Excellent point,” she pointed with one of the fingers she had wrapped around her crystal highball. “Just in case, we should order peperoni.”

“We should order two pepperonis. Pepperonis?” His brain had gotten exceptionally fuzzy. “Pepperonis,” he decided it was definitely a word, if only for that night.

“Okay,” Jen downed her glass of whiskey, and held it out to him for more. “You call the room service people and tell them we want pizza, but not hotel pizza. We want good pizza like...Dominos. Oh, and wings. We should get some wings.”

“Yeah,” this was all starting to sound like a great idea. “Hot wings.”

“Mmm,” Jennifer opened the box of donuts and took out a glazed one, ripped it in two and popped half of it into her mouth. “Hmphry ip,” she spoke with her mouth full.

“Okay.” He wasn't sure how he understood her order to hurry, but he did. “Should I call the front desk or room service? Oh!” he had a brilliant thought. “I know who to call.” He focused on the buttons and pressed 0. “Hello there fine lad,” he said when a voice answered. “Oh...my bad. Fine lass,” he corrected himself, and heard Jennifer's chortle behind him. “I need to speak with Chilo please.” He put his hand over the phone and started whispering to Jennifer like he had a secret. “I met the room service guy. He's nice.”

“Mmmm, he's nice,” Jennifer snorted. “I think I'm stoned, or drunk.”

“Or both,” Josh knew he was.

“Yes. Both,” she agreed. 

It took about a minute for Josh to get the man on the phone, and another to tell his new best friend, Chilo what he and Jennifer wanted from Dominos. “It'll be about an hour, Jen,” Josh informed her as though he had been given the worst news on the face of the earth.

“An hour?” She collapsed into a chair. “We can't wait an hour.”

“Oh, I know... Hey, Chilo, can you send up a pizza from room service while we wait,” he gave Jennifer a proud nod. She crinkled her nose and gave him a thumbs up sign telling him he had done the right thing. After Josh hung up he said, “Okay. It'll be about twenty minutes.”

“And then an hour?” Jennifer asked like the thought of waiting that long could cause her permanent damage.

“Yeah,” he gave her head a pat like he did with Driver. “It's gonna be just fine though because Chilo is going to go get it himself.”

“Who the fuck is Chilo?” 

“My friend,” Josh took a sip of whiskey. “I need a cigarette.”

“You don't smoke,” Jennifer pointed at him.

“Is that what I wasn't doing earlier when we were smoking?” It made perfect sense to Josh, but Jennifer's expression said she was confused.

“Huh?”

“Earlier when we were smoking, was I not smoking?” 

Jennifer looked like she was really concentrating then answered, “You were smoking.”

“I knew it!”

“You're very smart.” She got up and dug through a black bag coming up with a pack of cigarettes. “Shh,” she put her finger over her lips. “I'm not supposed to be having these anymore. They're bad for me, plus they stunt your growth.”

“Then I shouldn't have them either,” he said with a straight face and they both started laughing uncontrollably.

The sound of the doorbell had Jennifer clapping her hands like an excited twelve year old, and Josh had to admit, she looked so tempting sitting on one of the chairs, wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Her wavy hair was still damp, and looked almost black. It suddenly struck him that he preferred her natural color. He had always like brunettes, but there was no denying that Jennifer in all her natural glory, was more striking than any woman he had ever laid eyes on.

“Are you going to answer the door?” She asked. “Pizza, Josh. Pizza.”

“Oh, yeah.” 

They dined on the small pizza, choosing not to use the plates that were on the cart that had been rolled into the room, and opted to sit on the floor eating it straight from the serving dish it was placed on. 

“This is sooo good,” Jennifer licked the grease from her lips.

“Not better than Dominos though.” At that moment the sound of the national pizza chain sounded like ambrosia. 

“You know what else is good? That Philly cheese steak place by that shop on that one street.”

“The one next to that place we went that time?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh yeah, that's good stuff.” They sat and talked about their favorite places to eat back home, and moved onto the topic of Cheese Whiz, which led to a conversation about television commercials. By the time the last interruption of the night rang at her door they were singing the theme song for Oscar Meyer Wieners. 

Josh looked at the spread they had out before them. Cardboard boxes with hot wings and blue cheese, a couple of pepperoni pizzas, a half of a box of donuts, some nuts from the mini bar, and a bottle of whiskey to wash it all down. “This is my kind of meal.”

“Mine too,” she rubbed at her stomach, and flopped herself down onto the ground.

He glanced at his watch to check the time, and was shocked when it read 9:38pm. “It's not even ten o'clock yet.” There was no reply from her, only her soft stare eating away at him. “What are you looking at? Do I have food on my face or something?”

“You're handsome,” she said it as though it were something she had just discovered.

“Thanks,” it came out as a question.

“I can see why girls go crazy for you.” She sat up on her elbows. “You have a lot of boyish features, but a lot of manly ones too.”

He wasn't sure where the whole topic of conversation was going. “I know why guys go crazy over you.” He glanced at her breasts, appreciating the fact that she chose to forgo a bra under the t-shirt. “You've got great legs.”

“Legs, huh?”

“And blow job lips,” he said very seriously though he hadn't meant to say that last part out loud.

Jennifer pulled her lips over her teeth, hiding them from him, then grinned. “I like your jaw, and...” she got up on her knees and scooted closer to him. “What's this called again?” She trailed her finger down his throat.

“An Adam's apple,” he gulped.

“Yeah. I like that too.” 

The sexual tension that had been building up between them for the past hour and a half was undeniable. Whereas earlier, he found himself questioning every little thing in regards to her offer to fool around, now his entire body was screaming out in anticipation. There was no explanation as to why he allowed himself to get caught up in the situation, other than he was completely wasted. Though he was sure the weed had probably worn off by that point, the booze was still going strong. Almost two thirds of the bottle she had ordered was gone, and he was pretty sure he had done most of the drinking. He tilted his head to the side, pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth and whispered, “You sure?” Her answer was a tilt of her head, and her lips pressing against his. 

They tumbled to the ground in a whirlwind of arms, legs, and lips, kicking one of the boxes of food to the side. Their laughter began to bubble up between them as they clumsily made their way into her bedroom, discarding pieces of clothing on the way there. The first time he slipped his tongue into her mouth he felt like a man being given a glass of water after going without it for days. He had dreamed of being with her from the moment he realized he had more than just friendly feelings towards her, but he had never expected it to happen like this. 

Their drunken laughter was long gone, and in its place was crazed passion. He slipped one finger inside of her and groaned when the most intimate part of her body gripped him. “Christ, you're so tight,” he moaned in her ear. Jennifer's head fell backwards, her arms wrapped around his neck, and she spread her legs open just a little bit more allowing him to glide inside of her. It didn't take either one of them very long to reach their breaking point. Her fingers were digging into the cheeks of his ass while his were pulling up her hips, ensuring that she meet him thrust for thrust. When it was all over, he had to ask himself if he was dreaming or not. Everything seemed to be clouded with a thin, white haze. He rolled off of her and heard her letting out a light tinkle of laughter. His eyes darted to the side to see her staring straight up at the ceiling, and a very pleased expression on her face. “Glad you find my sexual capabilities humorous.”

“We need to do that again,” she stretched herself, causing her breasts to jut upward. 

“Oh really?” Just the fact that she wanted him stirred his senses.

“Yes really,” she rolled over onto her stomach and spoke into her pillow. “Aren't men supposed to get whiskey dick when they're drunk and stay up for like an hour or two?”

“I told you. Smoking weed makes me horny.” The sight of her bare ass was having that very effect on him at that moment. The next time he took her there was no kissing. No stroking. It was his arms pulling her up by the hips, and him sliding inside of her from behind. When they were through he collapsed on top of her, and slowly pulled himself from inside of her. 

A soft, “Mmmm,” sound came from Jennifer as she settled herself into the mattress. The sheet was still balled up in her fist as she drifted off to sleep, and Josh quickly followed suit.

Josh's eyes shot open at the sound of the shower running. He bolted upright, held the side of his head, blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear the sleep out of his eyes, and took in his surroundings. The sun had barely risen. The bed was a total wreck. Pillows were strewn about the floor along with the bedspread and a blanket. The fitted sheet was coming off at the corner of the bed, and the sound of water was leaking out of the bathroom door. “My God,” he said to himself remembering what he had done the night before. What they had both done. Evidence of their escapade lay in a path leading up to the remains of their meal and an open bottle of whiskey. “Son of a bitch,” Josh mumbled to himself as he slipped his pants back on, leaving the belt undone. “Fuck.” He sat on the edge of one of the chairs and repeated the sentiment over and over again. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” His fist came in violent contact with the seat cushion. The early morning light brought on a slew of regrets. Things he couldn't take back, and wished he could. It wasn't that he didn't want to make love to Jennifer, but last night was far from making love. It was sex. Two people giving into their primal instincts. Although it had been exceptionally satisfying for both of them physically, the emotional connection he had always assumed would be there between him and Jennifer, had never surfaced. 

“You're up,” the sound of her voice came to him from the bedroom doorway.

“Yeah,” he glanced at her, and noticed she could barely keep eye contact with him. “I'll clean this stuff up.” He began gathering the remnants of last night's meal from the carpeting and piling it onto a nearby table.

“Just leave it.”

He didn't want to leave it, but he couldn't stay in her presence any longer. Not after what he did. The fear that she might think he took advantage of her swept through him leaving him humiliated beyond recognition. “Jen-” feeling wrought with guilt, he searched for something to say that could fix the irreparable damage he had caused to their friendship.

“You should go take a shower, Josh. We need to be on set in less than an hour.”

He could hear the soft sound of her bedroom door closing behind him. The napkin he picked up from the floor dropped to the ground. He turned around, pulled on his shirt, shoved his feet into his shoes, balled up the rest of his clothes, and practically ran back to his room to wash off some of the shame he was covered in. 

Upon stepping into the elevator he heard her voice calling out to hold the doors. For a split second he thought about pretending he didn't hear her, then pushed the open door button at the last minute. 

“Thanks,” Jennifer came up short when she saw him. “Oh, hi.” her eyes darted to the side.

“Hi,” he pressed the button that would take them down to the lobby. He intentionally stopped at the front desk to avoid taking the same car as her, and made up an excuse to get an extra room key. He didn't need one, but he had to think fast when the clerk asked what she could do for him. He had avoided her at breakfast by having his assistant bring him a plate of fruit to his trailer, which he couldn’t stomach, then when he was sure she was on set, he headed for the makeup trailer. The sight of her sitting in the chair made him feel sheepish and small. He knew he should talk to her. Say something to her, but what? He didn't know. Did he apologize? Did he tell her he had been waiting for that to happen since...forever? She barely even acknowledged him when he walked into the room. 

“...shirt off please?”

“Wh...huh?” Josh turned his attention to the member of the makeup team. 

“I was told you had to do a scene with the top of your costume off today, so I'll need to cover your body art.”

“Oh...sure,” Josh pulled his shirt over his head and followed the instructions he was given. Turn this way...hold your wrist out...lift your arm... The entire time he was following orders, he and Jennifer didn't say one word to each other. The tension in the room was thicker than a foggy San Francisco morning. The few times Josh looked up at his reflection in the mirror he could see the two cosmetologists exchanging curious expressions. This time when he looked into the mirror it was Jen who was watching him. Her eyes were glued to the anchor tattoo that was quickly disappearing before their very eyes. Her gaze looked like she was in awe. The tip of her tongue poked out of her mouth and licked at her full upper lip just as her eyes met his. Josh let out a little sigh when he saw the sparkle in her bright eyes. He had expected them to be filled with regret, or possibly anger, but they weren't. They held curiosity, and the demure blush that tinted her cheeks had him wondering if maybe she felt the same way he did that morning.

“All done,” the woman working on Jennifer said, but Jen didn't move.

Josh knew he couldn't say anything in front of the two women, so he gave Jennifer a tender, lopsided grin and winked at her. He hoped she could sense that he wanted things to be okay between them. That he was sorry for the way they got together last night, but not sorry that they had finally changed the nature of their relationship.

Jennifer stood up, headed towards the door and said over her shoulder, “Make sure you bring your game today.”

“Bring your game?” 

“Miracle. Kurt Russel.” Her entire face contorted into disbelief. “The 1980's USA Olympic hockey team!?”

“Oh...uh...yeah.” She had a habit of referencing movies, and integrating their dialogue into everyday conversation. “I have no clue what you're talking about.”

“Oh my God.” She threw her hands up in the air. “That's it. You're coming over tonight and we're watching it. See ya later.” 

He grinned as he lifted his face upwards to get his makeup applied, and felt a huge sense of relief lifted from his chest. Their friendship was still in tact, and with any luck, he wouldn't be calling her just a friend for much longer.

“Got a lot on your mind?” His costar Benicio Del Toro rocked back on his heels next to Josh.

“I'm sorry?” Josh turned his attention to the man.

“You've been standing here staring across the lot for about twenty minutes now. That cute little girl over there,” he gestured with his chin towards the girl playing Maria in the film, “came up and tried to talk to you, but you just kept on staring. In my experience that means you've got a lot on your mind.”

Josh shrugged his shoulder. “I guess.”

“Something bothering you?” Benicio asked.

“No. Not something.”

“Ah, someone.” Benicio took a swig out of his coffee cup. “A woman?”

Josh turned to face the man. “Is it that obvious?”

“Usually the only thing that makes a man look like he's got a lot of troubles on his mind, is a woman.”

“They can be troublesome, can't they?” Josh let out a slight chuckle.

“Yes, but they're worth it.” Benicio's smile transformed his entire face. 

“You're not married, are you?” Josh wondered how much this man could know about love if he had never committed himself to a woman.

“Nope. Why should I get married just so I can get divorced?” Benicio gave Josh a devilish smile, and arched his brow. “But that doesn't mean I haven't been troubled by a woman before.”

“How'd it work out for you? Your troubles?”

Benicio gestured towards a little girl playing in a blocked off section of their lot. “Pretty good.” He laid a hand on Josh's shoulder. “Guess you could say, what I thought were the worst moments of my life, resulted in my greatest achievements.” 

The sight of the man lifting his daughter up in his arms and swinging her in a circle brought a smile to Josh's lips. Benicio said a few words to the woman that had been taking care of his little girl, then the daughter and caregiver headed off the lot. There was a hint of sadness on his costar's face as he watched his daughter leaving the lot, and Josh wondered if he'd ever find someone worthy of having a child with. Someone other than her.

…..  
…..  
…..  
…..  
…..

The flight to Montreal would last just over an hour as long as there were no delays. Jennifer took her seat in first class, buckled herself in, and checked her cell one last time before being ordered to shut it off. She was grateful for the tiny bit of time she'd have to herself during her flight. The changes to her script had to be memorized by the time they started filming on the fifteenth. Normally that wouldn't be a problem for her, but finding the time to dedicate to the changes, would be. From the moment she landed her schedule was booked solid. Liz assured Jennifer she could get out of a few of her obligations if she absolutely had to, but Jennifer knew better than to cancel dinner with the director and executive producers of her newest movie. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the flight attendant began informing them that it was time to shut off all mobile devices, then proceeded to demonstrate what to do in an emergency, which Jennifer ignored. As she placed her cell in the pocket of her sweatshirt she felt the stare of the man sitting across the aisle from her. She fought not to roll her eyes when he smiled and wagged his brows at her, sadly that was how men came onto her these days. They were either over-abrasive or terrified, but it was always at a distance. When the man gave her a wink, and licked his lips, she made a hand gesture suggesting that he go take care of his sexual frustrations himself, and turned away. 

She silently wished her flight was longer so she could have a drink. Alcohol had been a wonderfully warm blanket during the past few weeks, and helped to dull her senses when her memories threw her back to happier times. “Stop,” she mumbled to herself as she pictured Josh's soft, crooked grin, and his ability to fix everything between them with the wink of his eye unlike the pig that was sitting across from her.

When she had woken up that morning, and seen him sleeping next to her, her first reaction was to lean over and press a kiss against his slightly parted lips, but something stopped her. Remorse? Fear? Uncertainty? With her back resting against the headboard Jennifer gave Josh's naked body a quick once over. The sheet was draped precariously over his crotch, a trimmed patch of brown curls peeked out from beneath it. One hand was thrown over his head, laying on the pillow. The other was resting, palm side up, about an inch away from her hip. She could sort of make out the tattoo of his anchor, and tried to see what it was that was on his hip, but it was too small to distinguish from so far away. The Libra symbol on the inside of his wrist glared up at her, almost taunting her...begging her to brush her lips against it. She huffed out a breath, dropped her head back, and focused on the ceiling, telling herself she couldn't do this with him. She should have never done it with him. 

“Jen,” he whispered in his sleep, rolled over, and draped his arm over her legs which were sticking straight out in front of her. A small smile played at the corner of his lips as he curled his fingers into her bare flesh and he whispered her name again, “Jen.”

With each slumber driven breath Josh took, Jennifer felt like he was sucking the air straight out of her lungs. With her index finger and thumb she gingerly lifted his hand from her legs and placed it on the mattress. Sliding out of the bed, her feet landing on the plush carpeting with no sound, she slunk soundlessly into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. The reflection of herself in the large mirror hanging over the his and hers pedestal sinks, glared back at her accusingly. “Fuck you,” she flipped herself off in the mirror and stepped into the shower, drenching her hair with the scalding hot water. The heat from the shower caused a deep, fragrant spice, somewhere between cinnamon and clove, a woodsy mixture of balsam and cedar, a hint of rosemary, and the sweetness of lavender, to seep from her pores. She picked up the purple bar of soap with little nubs on one side and ran it over her body, scrubbing the heady scent of Josh off her as quickly as she could. The last thing she wanted or needed was to be consumed with guilt over a one night stand. And though her head told her that's all it was, her heart knew it was so much more. She rushed through her shower, hoping to finish before Josh woke up, towel dried her hair, wrapped the fluffy white robe the hotel provided around her, and pulled the bathroom door open as quietly as she could. 

Taking small, quiet steps towards the open bedroom door, she noticed Josh sitting on the edge of a chair, holding his head in his hand and heard a strangled, “Fuck,” escape from him as he punched the cushion.

She clutched the neck of her robe together, took a step back from the doorway, contemplating her next move, and decided to face it head on. “You're up,” she stood framed in the doorway.

“Yeah.” The second his eyes came in contact with her, she diverted her focus away. “I'll clean this stuff up.” He began gathering the remaining shreds of indecency strewn about the floor, and piling it onto a nearby table.

“Just leave it.” It was plainly clear to her that he was filled with regret over their choices the night before. A sinking feeling of sorrow stirred in the pit of her stomach as he froze in place, staring at the pile of debris.

“Jen-” 

Was it pity she heard in his voice? “You should go take a shower, Josh. We need to be on set in less than an hour.” Maybe it wasn't pity, but it certainly wasn't anything remotely encouraging. Biting the corner of her mouth, she closed the door with a soft click that resounded through the quiet suite, and pushed him from her mind. She had a job to do, and regardless of her antics when the cameras weren't rolling, she was a professional.

She rushed through her morning routine, which wasn't much more than letting her hair air dry, applying a light coating of moisturizer to her skin, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed. Coffee could wait until she got to the set. 

“Oh, hi,” Jennifer entered the elevator surprised to see Josh standing inside of it. She kept her eyes glued to the silver doors enclosing her inside of the lift with him, walked out of it the second the doors opened, and told herself once again she needed to keep herself focused on the task at hand. It was time to channel Katniss and the strength her character was infused with. She barely noticed Josh walking towards the front desk, at least that's what she told herself, stepped up to the black SUV that was waiting for her, and quickly glanced over her shoulder to see if he was behind her.

“Good morning, Miss. Lawrence,” her driver held the door open for her. 

“Morning,” she took a seat in the back of the vehicle, stared out the window towards the early morning bustle of guests and staff that were exiting the hotel, and answered, “Yes,” when the driver asked if she was ready to go.

“Good morning,” Liz's chipper voice spoke to her as she entered Jennifer's trailer with a cup o coffee from craft services. “You look...” Liz paused as she took in Jennifer's face, “...good.”

“I look like shit,” she took the coffee Liz handed her. 

“Rough night?”

An image of Josh's face as he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder, and pounded himself deep inside of her, flashed through her mind. “You could say that.”

“Should I ask?” Liz gave her an inquisitive quirk of her brow.

“I'd rather you didn't.” Jennifer tested the temperature of the brown liquid in the disposable cup, finding it to be perfect, and gulped it down as quickly as she could. “What's on the schedule?”

Always the professional, Liz pulled up her tablet and began scrolling across the screen, informing Jen of what was on the menu for her that day. “If you're ready, you can head to makeup.”

“Ready,” Jennifer was more than ready. She was determined to make it through the day unaffected. 

“I've got a few calls to make,” Liz informed her. “Mind if I hang back?”

“Nope.” 

“Jen?” Liz stopped her before she could leave. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“You sure?” Liz took a step in her direction. “You're normally a little more talkative than this. Even when you're hungover.”

“I'm not hungover,” Jennifer left it at that, not wanting to divulge any information about the issues that were currently causing a very bad mood to settle upon her. 

Finding the makeup trailer empty, but for the two women that worked there, Jennifer took a seat, said a quick hello, and recited her lines in her head behind closed eyes. She, Sam and Josh would be shooting the scene where they meet up together in the arena first thing that morning. The sound of the door opening, and Josh entering barely fazed her. She was in the zone. She was no longer Jennifer Lawrence, but Katniss Everdeen, and the guy that had just entered was Peeta Mellark...until he took his shirt off and his torso got covered with makeup. Jennifer's eyes darted to the anchor inked into his flesh. She could imagine running her hands over his muscular arms...abs. She had spent many nights with her ex in the throes of passion, but they hadn't experienced anything like that for over a year. Sex had almost turned into a chore for her. Regardless of Nick's sculpted body, Jennifer had a hard time keeping her mind on sex even when they were in the middle of it. Her tongue swiped at her lips as she thought of the way Josh had easily brought her to the edge of insanity, and the feel of his hard body pumping into hers. The muscles in his legs were hard as rock. His arms were a hell of a lot more rugged than she had thought they'd be, and his stomach... Her eyes closed briefly as she recalled the feeling of his body pressing her into the mattress from behind, then peered at the tattoo once again before it was completely hidden beneath a thin sheen of makeup. The tip of her tongue licked at her upper lip as her eyes drifted up to his face. 

Jen stayed perfectly still, holding Josh's gaze with her own as a voice said, “All done.”

She wondered if he could tell how much she wanted to go back in time and start all over again. She tried to send him a silent message, thinking to herself that she was sorry, and scared that she had ruined everything between them. With one gentle, crooked, grin, and a wink of a hazel eye, she could feel the fraying in the fabric of their relationship, mend. 

A gentle tap on her shoulder told her that she was able to leave. She searched for something to say to Josh that wouldn't be misconstrued in front of the crew. “Make sure you bring your game today,” she was sure he'd know what she was talking about considering he was into sports, and had done some work with Disney.

“Bring your game?” 

“Miracle. Kurt Russel.” Her jaw dropped while the corner of her nose lifted and simultaneously squinted. “The 1980's USA Olympic hockey team!?”

“Oh...uh...yeah,” Josh fumbled his words. “I have no clue what you're talking about.”

“Oh my God.” She threw her hands up in the air. “That's it. You're coming over tonight and we're watching it. See ya later.” She left before he had time to analyze her offer. 

Their day flew surprisingly by without any recurring feelings of indifference resurfacing on her part. As a matter of fact, once she and Josh were on set, they had been so into the scenes they were shooting, it felt like any other day. Their lunches were taken separately since she had to film a scene with Lynn, the woman playing Mags and he had to do one with Sam. At the end of her day she briefly worried that he had left without saying goodbye. He normally made sure to at least wave to her, but her concerns were quickly put to rest when she saw the text message he had sent to her while she was shooting.

“Didn't want you to think I had left without saying bye. See you later?”

“I'm finished, but I need to get this wetsuit off.” On any other day she would have made some sort of sexual comment after texting that to him. “I'll text when I'm on my way back.”

Prior to leaving, her assistant handed her a small bag with something inside of it, and Jen smiled with excitement. The second she saw the marque for the hotel out the SUV's window she sent a text to Josh. “With the right camera lens, I could probably see you from here.”

“Where are you?” He replied.

“Pulling up to the hotel.”

“Did you eat?”

“Yeah,” she had grabbed something between takes about an hour earlier. “But that never stopped me before.”

“LOL! Should I order something?”

“If you want.”

“Burgers?” He asked.

“No.” 

“Fried chicken?”

“No,” she answered.

“Steak? Salad?”

“Nope.”

“Help a guy out here. What do you want to eat?” 

“I don't care. Anything you want is fine with me.” She could almost hear his laughter at her reply. “I'm on my way up.” 

“Be there in about ten.”

“You mean you're not at my door anxiously awaiting my return? Fuck you. We're through.” She giggled as she pushed the key card into the slot and stepped into her room. “Give me twenty. I want to shower.”

“K. See you then.”

The doorbell chimed throughout her suite the second she stepped out of her bedroom wearing a pair of soft sweat pants and a dark t-shirt. Her hair was hanging in damp waves over her shoulders and down her back leaving little wet spots on her shirt. “Coming,” she hollered as she jumped over her shoes which she left in the middle of the floor. “Hey,” she threw it opened to find Josh standing there with a large greasy bag. 

“Room service,” he announced and walked past her. 

“Oh my God,” she hurried towards the glorious scent of cheese steak sandwiches. While she was showering she almost started worrying again about how to act around him, but it seemed like the worst was over. They could put it all behind them and go back to being friends. 

“I figured you'd like these.”

She unwrapped the sandwich, took a hefty bite and let out a loud, “Mmmm.” She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and reached for the bag her assistant had given her earlier. “Here. Put this on.”

“What is it?”

“Miracle,” she answered. “I sent my assistant on a trip to Walmart. I think it was the highlight of her day.” Jen took another bite of her sandwich and let the flavors melt on her tongue. “Dear God this is good. If you're trying to get into my pants, this is definitely the way to do it,” she froze when she realized what she had insinuated. Had it been yesterday, a comment like that would be something they laughed at. Today, it took on a whole new meaning. She watched Josh's back stiffen slightly as he put the movie in and pressed some buttons on a remote, waiting for his reply.

“Wow, you're cheap.” He turned to face her with a smile. “At least hold out for a few hundred dollar bottle of whiskey and a joint like I did.” He crinkled his nose at her and asked, “Too soon?”

“No,” she let out a chuckle. “We're good, right?”

“Right,” he plopped down on the sofa and opened up his sandwich.

Things were back to normal between them again. She was sure of it. She told herself that during the first hour of the movie as she sat in a chair several feet away from Josh instead of next to him like she had done so many times before. When he turned his gaze towards her, and hit the pause button on the remote, her mind silently willed herself to not freak out. Not to let the warmth radiating from his bedroom eyes to spread between her thighs. When she stood up and closed the distance between them, she reminded herself that this was her friend...Josh. That she shouldn't be doing this. And when he ran his hand up the side of her fleece covered thigh then threaded his fingers through hers, she realized, that over the span of twenty-four hours, her friendship with Josh had been changed forever. They would never be able to go back to what they had before.

She had been checked into her hotel suite for all of ten minutes before the doorbell rang out. “Christ,” Jennifer grumbled to herself and plastered a forced smile on her face in case it was someone important. “Oh, it's you,” the smile instantly dropped.

“Nice to see you too, Jennifer.” The sound of Nick's accent was as appealing as nails on a chalkboard. “May I come in?”

“Whatever,” she held the door opened for him.

Nick swaggered a few feet into her room with one hand in his pocket and another dangling casually to the side, looking very much like a live action GQ advertisement. “Don't tell me you're still holding a grudge.”

“A grudge?” She looked at him as though he had sprouted a pair of breasts right before her eyes. “Why the hell would I be holding a grudge?”

“Over my decision to put an end to our relationship.” She was pretty sure she could punch him in the nose without a lawsuit, but she didn't want to halt production, so she chose to ignore the arrogant nature of his tone. “I thought we were going to remain friends, Jen?”

“Friends,” she let out a slightly demented laugh. “Why should we start being friends now? We weren't when we were together.”

“Silly me,” he said with a cocky smirk. “I considered you my best friend while we were together. However, it's now apparent that I never meant as much to you as you meant to me.” His arrogant demeanor was gone. “I'll see myself out.”

“Wait,” she grit her teeth in frustration with the short fuze she had developed since the start of awards season. “I'm sorry. We are friends.”

“Please,” he held a hand up. “Don't patronize me.”

“Look,” she turned on her heels. “I said we're fucking friends, okay?”

“We're, 'fucking friends?'” Nick leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek. “It's nice to see you...my fucking friend.”

She would have stopped him from leaving and apologized for the second time in the span of seconds if only Josh's voice hadn't been ringing in her head. 

“It's settled.” Jennifer flicked open a button of Josh's shirt. “We'll be friends, but we can-” She gave him a deliciously sexy lick of her lips. 

“Friends with benefits?” His hand shimmied up the hem of her t-shirt and slowly skimmed up her bare back.

“I hate that saying,” She released the last button. “Can't we just say we're friends that fuck?”

Josh dipped his head down and nipped at the corner of her mouth. “So we're fucking friends?”

“Yes,” she glided the palms of her hands over his strong shoulders and slid his shirt down his arms. “We're fucking friends.”

Her eyes began to glass over as memories of that night haunted her. She dug out her cellphone and began frantically searching for Josh's last text. The pool of tears blurred her vision, but she didn't need to read it. She knew what it said. She had read it too many times. “Goodnight, Jen. I miss you.”

She clutched her phone to her chest, and dropped to her knees. “I miss you too,” she gasped out as she purged her regrets from her system in a flurry of heartache and tears. “I miss you so much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr I'm jamiesommers23 or you can follow joshiferrecs for all your joshifer fanfic needs


	3. Intimate Strangers Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Jen have crossed the line from friends to....something more, how are they handling it?

The answer he had promised his manager about attending the awards show was due in a few short hours, and Josh still hadn't made a definite decision. The long hours he had been putting in had been taking a toll on him. The lack of sleep hadn't helped much either. He vowed he would go to bed early that night, but the chiming of his doorbell instantly told him that his plans would probably be changing in a few short seconds.

 

“Angie?” He said with surprise in his tone. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were working in LA?”

 

“I was,” she walked past him, and entered his temporary residency, “until I saw that picture of you with that young girl.”

 

Josh struggled to figure out what she was talking about. “What girl?” He hadn't hooked up with any girls since being in Panama. He hadn't been with anyone at all since Jennifer.

 

“Not to mention these,” she pushed a couple of buttons on her cell and showed him the latest pictures that had surfaced with him and a few of his fans looking every bit as worn out as he felt.

 

“So what? I take fan shots all the time.” He attempted to blow his publicist's concerns off.

 

“Yes you do,” she took the phone back and turned the screen to black, “and you normally don't look like shit in them.” Josh sighed. “It's my job to worry about you, so quit thinking I'm acting like your mother, who was on the phone pestering me about your health until I hopped on a plane, thank-you-very-much.”

 

“Jesus, you're here because my mom sent you?” He loved the his mother, but she really needed to back off sometimes.

 

“No. I'm here because I saw what your mother didn't.”

 

“And what's that?” Josh was almost afraid of her answer.

 

“You're lost, Josh, and I don't mean geographically.” She tapped at the center of his chest. “You're heartbroken, and I can understand that. I really can, but this is your future we're talking about here.” She paused. “This is your life...personal and professional, and the way you're going you're going to flush it down the toilet.”

 

“What the hell am I doing?” Josh threw his hands up in the air and flopped down on the arm of the sofa. “I haven't been partying till the wee hours of the morning or anything like that. I've been working my ass off out here. I'm always the first to show up for a shoot, and the last one to leave. I've been-”

 

“Just knock it off,” Angie gave him a look like she didn't want to hear his line of shit. “You and I both know this has nothing to do with what you're currently doing, and everything to do with what you're avoiding.” She didn't _have_ to say it, but she did anyway, “This had to do with Jennifer.”

 

Just hearing someone else reference what had happened between he and Jennifer caused a rift to form in the center of his heart. “What do I do, Ang?” He almost pleaded.

 

“Don't ask me,” she pursed her lips at him, pulled out her phone, and swiped her finger over the screen. “I'm here to handle your business in the press, not your personal life,” she took a few steps towards the door, and Josh immediately rushed to hold it open for her, “but you need to get your shit together.” She huffed out a breath, and her shoulders slumped. “I can't do this,” Angie stopped before leaving and squeezed his upper arm. “I told myself I was going to come in here and keep myself distanced from your personal life, but... Josh, you love her. Go out there and get her.”

 

“You're right Angie,” he gave the woman a quick hug. “I do love her, which is why I'm not going to go.”

 

“Josh-” Angie said on the end of a sigh.

 

“I love her,” he gripped the doorknob. “I love her so much I'm going to do what no other man has ever been willing to do for her. I'm going to put her first. Thanks for coming out here, Ang, but I'm fine.” He had to be now that he had decided to accept the inevitable. It was over...really over between him and Jennifer.

 

“I wish I could say something to change your mind,” Angie spoke from outside of his doorway. “You were so happy, Josh. You both were.”

 

“Hey, I’m still happy.” His publicist gave him an arched brow and a smirk. “Okay, I'm not, but I'm working on it. Now get the hell out of here,” he said with a hint of teasing in his voice.

 

“I'll be here for a few more days, so I'll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Okay,” he waved. “See you tomorrow.”

 

He waited until she stepped back inside of the black sedan that brought her there, then shut the lights off intent on getting some rest. If his publicist blew off the rest of her clients because of a few bad photographs, there was something wrong.

 

After lying in bed for an hour, occupying his mind with the shadows that were dancing across the ceiling, Josh gave up and turned on the television set. The sight of Kurt Russell made up to look like the coach of the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team filled the screen while his voice echoed through Josh's room, “Don't forget to bring your game.”

 

_Jennifer had slipped back into friendship mode with Josh over the course of the day, which told him, she didn't want anything more than that. That was all they had before, and it had always been enough for him. So when she made a sexual jest, instead of taking it to heart, Josh responded as he had in the past. He joked back. “Wow, you're cheap.” He gave her a genuine smile. “At least hold out for a few hundred dollar bottle of whiskey and a joint like I did.” He hoped he hadn't crossed a line by referring to the previous evening. “Too soon?”_

 

“ _No,” she let out a chuckle. “We're okay, right?” She asked with the innocence of a child._

 

“ _Right,” Josh could see the relief spreading through her, and though he wasn't thrilled with the fact that he'd never get the chance to really show her how he felt, he accepted it with a minimal amount of question._

 

_The lights were turned off, and the volume on the television turned up. They both enjoyed the ambiance of a dark room and glowing screen. It reminded them of being in a movie theater. He had expected her to take up her usual position next to him on the sofa, but she chose to sit on the chair to his left instead. He forced himself to concentrate on the film, found the story compelling, and the acting to be outstanding, but the soft sighs coming from his left continually distracted him. He could feel her eyes on him. The smell of her freesia scented lotion provided a form of high he could never achieve with drugs or alcohol. He told himself to stop thinking about feel of her smooth skin, and the tiny cries of pleasure she made when he ground his hips against hers. The unexpected feminine whimpers had been his undoing the night before, and would soon be again if he couldn't put the voracious thoughts out of his mind._

 

_The longer he sat there, the more he became detached from the movie and got lost in the scenes of his life since meeting Jen. He had lost count of how many times they had spent their breaks together while filming The Hunger Games. How many conversations started with one topic only to end on something completely unrelated? They had confided in each other. Shared their fears...their embarrassing moments...their worries when it came to their careers. They were a rarity amongst young Hollywood thespians. They were honest to goodness friends._

 

_There was only one way he could free himself from the images playing in his mind. It was time to talk things through with her...to get off of his chest. He was going to start with what had been bothering him that entire day, and why he reacted the way he did when he first woke up, and then he'd apologize for being such a jerk. The way he figured it, he owed her at least that. He pushed the button on the remote, pausing the movie, with the intention of confiding in his friend again, but when his eyes met hers the apology he intended on giving her faded to black. The only thing he could think of was how desperately he wanted to touch her again._

 

_If there was a way he could somehow know what she was thinking. A sign of some kind, that would tell him she wanted him too, he would have gone to her, and then Jennifer did the most amazing thing. She walked to him...stood between his feet at the edge of the sofa, and rested her hands on his shoulders, never once breaking eye contact with him. His hand glided up the side of her sweatpants covered leg, traveling over the deep dip of her waist, and floated towards her arm, slipping past her wrist and linking their fingers together. Josh pressed a kiss into her hand and placed her palm against his cheek. His eyes closed for a moment as he soaked in the feel of her hands cupping his cheeks. He pushed a small breath out from between slightly puckered lips before delving into her eyes in search of the answer to his unspoken question._

 

_Her hands were cradling his face as she dipped her head down and placed her lips against his in a hesitant test of a kiss. The warmth of her lips as they softly pressed against his sent a rush of blood to the center of his body. Intense hazel eyes locked onto sparkling blue. He could see the internal battle raging inside of her, questioning whether or not to take the risk._

 

“ _Jen? It's okay if you don't want to do this,” he spoke softly._

 

“ _I do want to,” she whispered as she straddled his lap._

 

_His fingers got lost in the dark waves just above her ear. “But you're not sure, and Jen...I can't go through what we went through this morning again.” His heart felt like someone was squeezing the blood out of it. “I never want to feel that way again, and...I'm sorry, Jen. I'm so sorry.”_

 

“ _No,” she pressed her forehead against his. “It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I pressured you-”_

 

“ _Pressured me?” He interrupted her. “Is that what you think?”_

 

“ _I was the one that suggested we-” she turned away from him, unable to finish her sentence._

 

“ _Hey,” he gently turned her by the chin towards him, “I took advantage of the situation, Jen. Of you.”_

 

“ _Then why do I feel like I was the one that took advantage of you...of your kindness?”_

 

_His light laughter floated through the stillness of the room. “Trust me. I didn't sleep with you last night out of the kindness of my heart. I've wanted to do that for a very long time.” He corrected himself, “Well, not **that** exactly, but I have wanted to be...intimate with you for a while now.”_

 

“ _You have?” She gave him a quizzical look._

 

“ _Yeah,” he chose that moment to confess to her what he had been feeling. “I've wanted you since the day I met you.”_

 

_Jennifer thumped her hands against his shoulders. “Then why didn't you say anything?”_

 

_He spread his hands out, palms up, then placed them on her hips. “You were taken. What was I going to say, 'hey Jen, I know you've got a boyfriend, but I think you and I should hook up?' That would've gone over really well.”_

 

“ _You could have said **some** thing, Josh.”_

 

“ _I could have, but it would have been...I would have felt like I betrayed your friendship.” He ducked his head down and said sheepishly, “Kind of like I felt when I woke up this morning.”_

 

_Jennifer looked to the side for a minute before facing him and asking, “You and Vanessa...you two stayed friends after you broke up, right?”_

 

“ _Yeah,” he really didn't feel like talking about his ex at that minute._

 

“ _And you slept together after you broke up, right?”_

 

“ _Yeah,” he answered, worrying about where her line of questioning was going. “Why?”_

 

“ _Did it ruin your friendship?”_

 

_He didn't have to think about it. “No.”_

 

“ _Then why can't we do that?”_

 

_He studied her expression and tried to figure out what she was suggesting. “You mean you want to stay friends, but sleep together?” She answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “Jen, Vanessa and I are nothing like you and I. Not once after she and I had sex did I think it would cause a ripple in our friendship.”_

 

“ _Because you two decided to keep it platonic outside of the bedroom.”_

 

_He had shared the nature of his relationship with Vanessa after Jennifer had stopped by his house and Vanessa was leaving in the early morning, and now he regretted ever telling her about it. “Yeah, but is that what you want?”_

 

“ _I don't know, but I know I can't get into another relationship right now, Josh.”_

 

_He didn't have to ask why. She had spent two years with Nick and he chose to end it because she couldn't make more of a commitment. The thought of being like Nick, expecting more from her when she wasn't prepared to offer it, made him sick to his stomach, but if he agreed to this he had to be honest with her. “Jen, I won't lie to you. I'd rather not be a casual lay when it comes to you, but I know you're not ready for anything more, so...if I agree to this, I want you to know...” he searched for the right way to explain himself without making her feel like he was pressuring her into something, “...if at any point you want to change the nature of the relationship, I'd be okay with that.” He could see her eyes twinkling back at him and the small smile form at the ends of her mouth._

 

“ _Okay,” she leaned in and placed a kiss on the side of his ear. “If, and it's a big if, I change my mind and want to...what?” She pulled back and gave him a playful grin. “Start going steady with you,” they both chuckled at her choice of words, “You'll be the first to know. In the meantime...” she began unbuttoning his shirt, “...we might as well have some fun.”_

 

“ _Fun?” God, how he hated himself sometimes. He wanted so much more than to have fun with her, but if this was all he could have he'd be happy with it. “I like fun,” his lip quirked in a half grin as his hand slid underneath her shirt._

 

“ _We'll need some ground rules.”_

 

“ _Great,” he swiped his tongue against the crook of her neck. “We're so good at following rules.”_

 

_Her giggle caused him to smile against her skin. “Rule number one: we can't tell anyone.”_

 

“ _That goes without saying,” he pulled back to look into her eyes. “There's no way in hell I want people to know I'm slumming it with the likes of you.”_

 

“ _Fuck you,” she dug her fingers into his chest through his shirt then undid another button. “No obligations. I don't want either one of us feeling like we have to...that we're-”_

 

“ _We're not in a committed relationship,” he helped her to find the right words._

 

“ _Right. Other than friendship.”_

 

“ _What about other people?” He had no desire to share her._

 

“ _Josh, if you're sleeping with me, you better not be sleeping with anyone else. Especially Mufasa,” she grinned. “But if you find someone else...someone you actually like, then tell me. We'll stop.”_

 

“ _Sounds fair,” he agreed. “I expect the same from you.” He wanted to specify Nick, but thought better of it at the last minute._

 

“ _Of course.” She got down to the last of his buttons. “So?” She brushed her open mouth against his. “It's settled.” She opened the second to the last button.“We'll be friends, but we can-” She licked at her lips suggestively._

 

“ _Friends with benefits?” His hand drifted deeper underneath her shirt and slid up her back._

 

“ _I hate that saying,” She released the last button. “Can't we just say we're friends that fuck?”_

 

_Josh nibbled at the corner of her full bottom lip. “So we're fucking friends?”_

 

“ _Yes,” her hand slid over his shoulders gliding his shirt down his arms. “We're fucking friends.”_

 

“ _Well, Jen...my fucking friend...” he pulled her shirt over her head and let his eyes get their fill of her bare breasts, “...I have a question for you.”_

 

“ _What's that?” She asked before divesting him of his white t-shirt._

 

“ _When was the last time you had earth shattering sex?” He brushed his thumb over her pert nipple. “And I'm not talking about what we did last night. I'm talking about having someone take their time with you. Having someone,” he ran his hand over her shoulder and cupped the back of her neck, “put your needs first?”_

 

“ _Nev...ah” she gasped as he pulled her in for a slow kiss._

 

“ _Then let's go to bed, and do it the right way this time.” He led her to the master suite, her hand clutched in his, then left her standing just inside the doorway as he removed the overabundance of pillows from the bed and turned the bedding down. “Come here,” his gentle request guided her to his outstretched hand. She deserved so much more than what he gave her the night before, and whether or not she wanted an emotional commitment with him, Josh was hell bent on showing her how much he cared about her. He lifted her fingers, placed a kiss on the tip of each one then lay her hand upon the center of his chest so she could feel his heart reacting to her mere presence._

 

“ _Josh,” she silently spoke his name._

 

“ _Jen,” his lips moved slowly as he mouthed her name in return. Their lips met in a decadent kiss. A languid swirl of tongues masterfully performing a dance of sensuality. He could feel her hands reaching for her own waistband, and put a stop to it. “Let me,” he spoke against her open mouth, and slid his fingers beneath the elastic bands of her remaining garments, skimming them down her smooth limbs, tugging them from beneath her feet and tossing them to the side. Their bodies were within inches of each other as he placed her hands on his belt buckle hoping she'd follow his lead. A gentle smile creased the corners of her eyes as she removed his clothes. His hands rested upon her shoulders as she slipped his flip flops off, and removed the only barriers left between them. When she stood up, he spread her arms open, and gazed appreciatively upon her generous curves. “Wow,” he said softly._

 

_Her eyes took a path from the tips of his toes, up his legs, over the measure of his shaft, up his torso and landed on his face. “Wow,” she repeated before closing the miniscule gap between them, and capturing his mouth with hers._

 

_He wrapped his arm around her waist turning her so the back of her knees were bumping up against the thick mattress then lay her down upon the cushy bedding. As her fingers traveled up his spine, he lay his body atop hers, the weight of his body pressing her into the downy bedding. Choosing to keep his eyes open during their next kiss he watched her lids drift close...felt her body quiver beneath his touch. He soaked it all in, never wanting to forget her every little shudder...every tiny whimper his lips drew out of her. Everything he had they had denied themselves the night before was being made up for and then some. Masculine hands caressed velvety smooth curves as delicate, feminine ones examined his upper body. Her fingers spread out over the tattoo she had been studying earlier in the day, covering it...gripping at his ribcage, and pulling Josh closer. The weight of her breasts in the palm of his hand had him dipping his head down, taking the soft pink tip into his mouth, lavishing it until it formed a turgid peak. The flavor of her skin spread over his tongue causing his senses to salivate as his mouth went on a journey in search of her other nipple, leaving its twin glistening._

 

_Her hips lifted off the mattress, pressing into him as she wrapped her legs around his, tucking her feet beneath his calves. A small cry of pleasure sent a chill shot down his spine. The need to submerge himself in her kiss quickly grew out of control. A piece of him felt as though it was going to die if he didn't allow himself the pleasure of her lips. If he didn't lose himself deep inside of her, but he promised himself...her, she would be put first, and Josh wanted to show Jen exactly how it should have been...how it could always be between them, if she would only allow it._

 

_He lifted himself from her and glided his palm down her leg as far as it would go, lifting her foot from its hiding place. Starting at her ankle, he began trailing soft pecks up her calf, over her knee, the outside of her thigh and lingered at the curvacious round of her hip. The tip of his nose brushed against the flat of her stomach, creating a pathway up the center of her body for his lips and tongue to follow. He could feel the muscles in her stomach tense up as he pressed a kiss against the top of her navel. His hands curled around her waist, lifting her back slightly off the mattress while his journey continued up her lengthy torso. Her hips began to writhe beneath his as he pressed one kiss on the swell of each milky, white breast. An invitation was presented to him with the arch of her neck, and Josh was more than eager to dine. The second his lips came in contact with it he could feel her repeated swallowing, and her sharp breaths blowing at the top of his head. There was just one more thing separating him from reaching his ultimate goal._

 

_The tip of his tongue tickled its way over the point of her chin as her, “Oh God, Jah-” escaped and his lips landed on hers swallowing the sound of his name on her breath._

 

_Fingers trickled down the sides of her body, tracing the swerve of her hourglass figure, dancing up and down the sides of her body until he could no longer take it and he gripped her face in his hands, holding her mouth captive to his voracious tongue. A flourish of emotions swept through him, whipping his system into a crazed frenzy of desire. The feel of her fingers digging into his scalp as her lips hungrily sought out his, caused the blood to rush to his head, and his fingers to dig gently into her flesh. The air in the luxurious bedroom grew hot and thick as they panted amidst their slippery kiss. Lifting his body slightly off of her, in order to grant Jennifer's frantically searching hand access to his arousal, Josh threw his head back and let out a resounding, “Ah,” then began his search for her moist region. He slipped a finger inside of her tight center, surrounding it in a pool of hot lava, slid it out, and he could almost swear that her body sucked him back in. Stiff tipped breasts bore into his chest as he spread her juices between her folds and swirled his finger around her clit._

 

_The sweet sound of her whimpers echoed in his ears as her hand froze in place on his turgid member. “Pl...plea...” she couldn't seem to get a word out, but he knew what she wanted. What she was attempting to beg him for, and he could no longer deny her, nor himself, the pleasure._

 

_His hand left her for a moment and rand down her thigh, leaving a trail of her stimulation, glistening on her flesh. Ripping his lips from her, Josh plunged his arm beneath her leg, lifting it off of the mattress in order to grant him access to the passage he so desperately needed to travel._

 

_Her hand guided him downward leaving his tip just at her entrance, then clasped at his biceps, digging her fingers deep into his muscles._

 

_His eyes shot to hers just as he pushed himself inside, and watched her face morph from one of tumultuous desire to sensuous wonder._

 

_Before that moment they were the best of friends. They had formed a tight-knit bond, built on respect for one another, but in that moment...the instant Josh completed the link that would forever transform them from friends into lovers, he knew he had found what he had always dreamed of. He found the person he'd give up everything for. Love had been staring him the face for well over a year, and he hadn't even known it. Want? Desire? Yes, but love? He had never expected it to be Jennifer, and as he rolled her body so she was lying on top of him, he finally understood the emotion he thought he had perfected on screen._

 

_He clutched her tightly in his embrace as their bodies moved in a slow and steady pace. Her silky hair hung like a heady scented sheet around their faces as he grew closer and closer to the inevitable climax._

 

_Little bursts of hot air burst out from between her slightly parted lips while she ground herself against him, gripping his silky heat at the base and drawing out to the very tip. Stroking the life from his body._

 

_He could feel himself swelling, and fought to hold on a little longer. A fine sheen of perspiration formed between their bodies, and he could no longer take the sweet torture she was putting him through. “Oh Jen. Jen,” he gasped out, and at the sound of her name escaping him in the throes of ecstasy, she let out a loud cry into the night quickly followed by Josh pouring every ounce of love he had for her, deep inside of her body._

 

_They lay that way...unmoving...arms clinging, until the beat of their hearts regained a steady pace. He brushed the hair that was clinging to her cheeks away from her face, and pressed a soft peck against her lips. This was so much more than what he ever thought it would be with her. More than he could ever have imagined a person was allowed to feel._

 

_A mystical gaze held his as she whispered hoarsely, “I never thought-” her realization hung between them._

 

“ _I know,” he kissed her again. “I know,” and he did know. Whether she wanted to accept it or not, they hey had made love to each other in a way that shook them both senseless._

 

Josh thought of what Angie had flown all the way to Panama to tell him. Pondered over the choices he made in his life, and struggled with the most recent one. Could he actually do it? Could he just let Jennifer walk out of his life without telling her all that was in his heart? He bolted upright at the sound of Kurt Russell's voice blaring from the television. “Great moments...are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here...”

 

“Son of a bitch,” Josh let out a soft chuckle, and reached for his cell. There was someone he needed to call.

 

 

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

 

 

The bitter cold smacked her in the face as the wind whipped her blond hair straight back. The temperature in Montreal was nothing like the last few locations she had been on. Daytime was a bit warmer, due to the sun, but once that golden ball of gas descended and night hit, so did the frigid weather. It was only a ten to fifteen degree difference, but the wind made it feel so much worse. “Fuck me,” Jennifer exclaimed as she shut the sliding glass door that led from her hotel suite onto the balcony. She fumbled with the pack of cigarettes her assistant had slid to her on the sly, and the bright orange Bic. She could feel the filter of the cigarette sticking to her dry lips, cupped a hand around the end of it and flicked the lighter a good dozen times before she finally got a flame to last long enough for her to take her first puff. The feeling of smoke filling her lungs was almost as good as the slow exhale that quickly followed. She held the lit cigarette in front of her and said quietly to herself, “What a shining example you are to the tweens of this world,” before taking another long drag. It had been quite some time since she caved into her need for nicotine. She had been so proud of herself for not relying on any form of tobacco for so long, but after the incident with Nick earlier in the day, the desire to fall back onto her nicotine crutch became overwhelming. So much so that she braved the cold weather in order to take a few drags. The blast of cold, from a strong gust of wind, had her clutching her jacket closed. “Fucking non-smoking hotels,” she grumbled to herself then let out a small chuckle remembering the last time those words were spoken.

 

“ _We've got about twenty minutes,” Jennifer nibbled on her bottom lip. “Want to sneak away for a smoke?” She asked Josh who was always more than willing to get into trouble with her._

 

“ _I thought **we** quit,” his eyes sparkled with a hint of humor._

 

“ _ **Weeee** didn't make any fucking promises,” Jennifer grabbed his hand and hurried away from the group of makeup men and women heading towards her and Josh. “Let's go. What time is it?” She asked as she ignored the voices calling out to them._

 

“ _Half past a cow's ass,” Josh laughed. “How the hell should I know. I'm in a wetsuit.”_

 

“ _Isn't your motto, always be prepared?”_

 

“ _Huh?”_

 

“ _Weren't you a boy scout or something?”_

 

_He arched a brow at her and said, “Oh yeah. I had tons of time to join boy scouts while I was trying to get roles as a child actor in Hollywood. As a matter of fact, we used to hold meetings under the bridge.”_

 

_They had finally reached their destination, the parking lot behind some of the trailers. Jennifer looked over her shoulder at him with a queried expression, bent down, dug for something underneath one of the trailers, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. “What bridge?”_

 

_Josh declined her offer of a cigarette, and answered with teasing look of shock, “The one to Terabithia.”_

 

“ _Fuck you,” she laughed as she lit up. “Oh God,” she blew out a large puff of smoke. “That fucking hotel they put us up in sucks.”_

 

“ _Tell me about it. Fucking non-smoking hotels,” he said with a feigned air of offense. Josh leaned up against the trailer, then stood straight up. “Not that **we** would care. **We** quit smoking.”_

 

“ _Yup. It's bad for you,” Jennifer blew out another puff of smoke, and flipped him off._

 

“ _Horrible,” he agreed through the thin white cloud she blew in his direction. “So answer a question for me. Why is everything that's bad for you so damn good?”_

 

_Jennifer let her head lull backwards. “I have no clue, but the way I figure, just because I'm in the public eye doesn't mean I can't be young and stupid, right?” She looked to him for confirmation and was slightly disappointed when he gave her a halfhearted look. “Aw come on. You're worse than I am. You're not even twenty-one yet and you drink more than I do. Not to mention, wasn't that you smoking a joint the other day?”_

 

“ _Now wait a minute,” he held up his hand in defense. “That was your joint, which we **both** smoked, and you've had your fair share of drunken escapades, Miss. Lawrence.”_

 

“ _Yeah, but I'm old enough to drink.” She gave him a half smile. “Hell, you're not even tall enough to get on half the rides in Disneyland. If you're not allowed to ride those teacups, then you should **not** be drinking.” They both let out a loud burst of laughter._

 

“ _If I may quote the great and talented Miss. Jennifer Lawrence. Fuck you,” he said on the end of his laugh. He studied her for a second, reached out and took the cigarette from between her fingers and crushed it into the ground._

 

“ _What the hell?” She complained._

 

“ _I hate kissing you after you smoke.”_

 

“ _Pretty fucking presumptuous on your part thinking I'm going to let you kiss me,” she glared at him through narrowed eyes._

 

“ _We're filming the beach scene when we get back, Jen. I'd rather you not taste like an ashtray.”_

 

_She snarled the corner of her lip at him. “Fine,” she said with an eye roll. “I'll let you kiss me, but only because you're paying me to.”_

 

_A crease formed between Josh's brows. “Pretty Woman?”_

 

“ _Very good,” she was quite pleased that he was able to identify that quote. “Only she didn't say she'd let him kiss her.”_

 

“ _Yeah,” he gestured for Jennifer to walk ahead of him through the palm trees. “Didn't she refuse to kiss him on the lips?”_

 

“ _Yup. Too personal.”_

 

“ _Why the hell didn't we think of that?” Josh bumped his shoulder against hers. “God knows I don't need you getting all...personal with me. Yuck,” he made a face like he was completely grossed out._

 

“ _I have no problem adding that to our list of ground rules,” she stuck her tongue out at him._

 

“ _Don't stick that thing out unless you're planning on putting it to good use,” he reached out and ran a knuckle down her cheek._

 

“ _Would you do that if I asked you to? Stop kissing me when we have sex?”_

 

_His eyes traveled up her form fitting costume and said, “There's not much I'd mind doing for you, Jen, but there's no way in hell I'd ever agree to that.”_

 

_The look he gave her sent a tingling sensation up her spine. “Stop it.”_

 

“ _Stop what? What did I do?”_

 

“ _You know very well what you're doing, and you need to knock it off.” Whenever he got that damn tone in his voice, the one that could charm a nun out of her habit, it threw her for a loop. “We're in the middle of shooting. We can't be wasting time flirting with each other.”_

 

“ _Why?” He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Do something for you?”_

 

“ _Fuck you,” she said with her eyes closed and her pulse quickly growing wild._

 

“ _Later.” He took her hand in his and tugged her towards the set. “We're in the middle of shooting,” his voice mimicked hers. “We can't afford to flirt with each other, and we most certainly can't be doing that on set either. Not unless Katniss and Peeta actually had wild sex in the middle of the arena.”_

 

“ _They may have if that damn lightening didn't strike the tree,” she giggled softly as she followed him back. “Stupid girl should have jumped his bones while they were on that damn Victory Tour.”_

 

“ _Yup. I completely agree.” His eyes did a sideways glance towards her breasts. “Thankfully you're not as stupid as Katniss Everdeen.”_

 

“ _Sometimes I think she may have been the smart one when it comes to sex.” Just thinking about the direction they've been going in as of late had her filled with a mixture of worry and lust. Josh dropped her hand, paused on his path, and bent over to adjust the ankle of his wetsuit which gave her a perfect shot of his ass. “Fuck it,” lust always seemed to win out when it came to him. “Bitch didn't know what she was missing.”_

 

“ _Thanks,” he grinned up at her then stood upright._

 

“ _Oh, don't worry. You'll be thanking me for that later.” She gave his ass a playful swat. “Since you're so into this whole kissing thing, I'm thinking you can thank me with one of those, and Josh...” the makeup team was converging upon them, “...I'm expecting a lot of tongue.”_

 

“ _Don't worry,” he stared at her mouth, “If there's one thing I know how to do, it's take advantage of those lips.”_

 

“ _Wrong lips,” She let out a loud laugh when he stood at attention, looking like his jaw was about to hit the ground, and the makeup team finally reached them._

 

_The stomach cramps began around the same time they were starting, what everyone referred to as, the beach scene. She and Josh filmed over a dozen takes before the director was satisfied. Since Josh was through before she was, and she had at least six more hours of filming to do, he made plans to go out with Sam and some of the others. She wasn't angry about it, but that seemed to be where he was spending a great deal of his time lately and she was envious._

 

“ _See you later,” Josh stopped by her trailer to say goodbye, but Jennifer's publicist was in there as well as her assistant. “Drop me a text if you want. I'm going to be playing poker with Sam and some of the guys.”_

 

“ _I don't need a breakdown of your schedule, Josh. Go play with the guys if you want. I'll just stay here and work,” she hadn't meant to sound like she was mad at him, but mother nature had decided to wreak havoc on her system, and Jen was pissed._

 

“ _Okay,” his eyes darted between her assistant and Liz. “Guess...guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Have a good night.” He waved at the two other women in her trailer before turning to leave._

 

“ _Fuck! This shit sucks,” Jennifer threw a pillow across her trailer and dropped her head onto the table. “Can someone please find me some Motrin or Tylenol? These fucking cramps are going to be the death of me.”_

 

_She plowed through the rest of her shooting schedule for the day, thanking the sweet Lord above it started to rain, and production had to shut down three hours earlier. As Jennifer slugged towards her suite she pulled out her cell and sent a quick text to Josh. **“Sorry about earlier. I'm not feeling well.”**_

 

_It took a few minutes for him to reply, and by that time she was curled up in a ball on the sofa, clutching her knees to her chest. **“What's wrong?”**_

 

_She had to explain why she had been so short tempered with him, and why she'd be turning him away for the next few days. **“The pencil is red.”**_

 

“ _ **Oh,”** his short reply almost pissed her off. Then again, everything this time of the month, pissed her off, but then he sent another one. **“You need me to bring you anything?”**_

 

“ _ **Yeah. A box of Tampax Pearl,”** she could only wish he would do that as she forgot the box her assistant went out and picked up for her earlier in the day and now she was going to have to call down and get the generic hotel version of a cork. She had thought about contacting the concierge, but she really didn't want to advertise that time of the month with the man. _

 

“ _ **Seriously?”**_

 

_She let out a small chuckle and texted, **“No. Have a good night. I'm going to lie down.”** The bed was too damn far away, as was the phone she needed to use to reach the woman at the front desk. Jennifer decided she'd give herself a half hour or so before making the call, or maybe she'd run out to the store herself, then rolled her eyes at the mere thought of moving from the sofa. About forty minutes later she had no choice but to get up because someone was ringing that damn bell that drove her insane. Glancing through the peephole she saw Josh standing in the hall. “What are you doing here?”_

 

_He walked past her into the hotel room carrying a bright blue, reusable bag from Walmart. “You said you needed these,” he pulled out a box marked Tampax Pearl Mutipax. “Did you know these things aren't one size fits all? I had to ask the saleslady what to get, and she said this was probably the best way to go.”_

 

“ _You...” she reached out and took the light blue box from his hand, “...you bought me...tampons?”_

 

“ _I figured you probably needed them, and didn't want to admit it.” He glanced at her and said, “We need to get you comfortable. Come on,” he led her by the hand towards the bedroom and dug through her drawers pulling out a pair of dark sweats. “You go into the bathroom and get changed and I'm going to get your dinner ready.”_

 

“ _Dinner?” She clutched the sweats to her chest along with the box she was holding._

 

“ _Yup. Now go,” he turned her towards the bathroom by the shoulders. “When I come back in here I want you to be in bed, okay?” All she could do was nod._

 

_Within a few minutes she had changed into the soft fleece garments, and crawled under the covers, burying her face into a fluffy pillow._

 

“ _Hey,” Josh entered with a tray and sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay,” she rolled over to face him as he set the tray on the nightstand, “I've got Ben and Jerry's Phish Food,” she looked to the pint sized tub of ice cream with a spoon sticking out of it. “That's the meat. Twizzlers...strawberry. That's the potato, and M &M's plain as the gravy.” He grinned. “I've got some chamomile tea to help you out too.” He brushed her hair back from her forehead and handed her the cup, “I don't know why, but whenever I was sick as a kid, my mother made me chamomile tea, and I always thought it made me better,” he shrugged innocently. “Oh, and,” he lifted up something from the tray, “one hand dipped chocolate covered pretzel rod rolled in toffee for dessert. I got this from that candy store we pass everyday on the way to the set.” The tears began to pool in the corner of her eyes without her knowledge, until Josh brushed his thumbs against her cheek, rubbing them away. “You poor thing. Are you hurting?” She couldn’t seem to find her voice, so she answered with a nod. “I've got something for that too, but I left it in the other room. I'll be right back.” He handed her the tub of ice cream and took the tea. “You start eating.”_

 

“ _'kay,” she said softly, and awaited his return._

 

“ _Here we go,” he pulled the covers down and placed a small bean bag type of thing across her stomach._

 

“ _Oh,” the warmth that radiated from it brought instant relief. “What is that?”_

 

“ _It's a heating pad you warm up in the microwave. That saleslady said she swears by it.” Josh opened up a bottle of pills and tapped one into her palm. “And my mother said Aleve works wonders.”_

 

“ _Your mother?” Jen asked in awe of all he had done for her. “You called your mother?”_

 

“ _Who else was I going to call? Angie?” He chuckled. “I can just imagine her asking me why I'm the one doing this for you instead of Liz.”_

 

“ _Why are you?” Jen shook her head in disbelief._

 

_He took the spoon she had yet to eat off of from her hand and began to feed her like a child. “When I was about thirteen I asked my dad if he had any suggestions when it came to girls, and he said to me, 'Josh, you need to remember a few things when it comes to women. You have to treat them with the same respect you'd treat your mother with. Make sure you're a gentleman...hold open the door for them...buy them flowers on special occasions, and never take them for granted.' Looking back on it now, it was good advice, but it didn't do a damn thing for me at the time.” He put the spoon down and asked, “Twizzler?”_

 

“ _M &M's,” Jen answered, and listened as he finished the tale from his past. _

 

“ _So, I started to do things for my mom, like opening up doors and stuff like that. You know...a sort of rehearsal for when I had the opportunity to do the real thing, and my mom asks me, 'Why are you being so nice?' I thought I was always nice, but apparently I was a huge disappointment,” Josh laughed a little. “So I tell her about the advice my dad gave to me, and she starts laughing.” Josh gave his head a shake. “Now I was really confused.” He took a bite of ice cream quickly swallowing it. “Then my mom says to me, 'Joshua I'm gong to teach you everything you need to know about women. First, remember what your father said, he's absolutely right. Second, learn to appreciate a good chick flick. Girls love it when you can watch those, and don't make fun of them either. We women like our sappy movies. Third, never forget a date. I'm not talking about the kind you go out on, though you don't want to forget those either, but important days like anniversaries...birthdays... Finally, take care of them when it's that time of the month.” Jen let out a giggle, and Josh smiled at her. “She said, 'There isn't a woman alive that wouldn't love you till the day you died for pampering them when they had their period,' Then she patted me on the shoulder and said, 'Remember those things and you'll be golden.'”_

 

“ _She was right,” Jennifer held her mouth open for another spoonful of Phish Food._

 

 

The chattering of her teeth, and uncontrollable shuddering her entire body was doing, had Jennifer making her way back inside of her hotel room. She clutched at her aching stomach, pulled the heating pad Josh had bought for her, out of the microwave, and pressed it to her torso in the hopes that the familiar pain would cease. Forcing herself to crawl into bed, she opted to leave the clothes she had been wearing that day on, and hugged a pillow to her chest, but no matter how hard she tried to push it away, the loneliness that had become her bed mate since she and Josh went their separate ways, consumed her. Thoughts of Nick and his visit began floating through her mind. She had to wonder if what she said to him about not being friends when they were a couple was accurate.

 

“ _I take it Nick never did any of this for you?” Josh asked as he curled his body around her from behind and rubbed her stomach in a slow circle._

 

“ _If it were up to him he'd have sent me to the edge of the village and have me stoned, and I don't mean that in a good way.”_

 

_Josh pressed a kiss against the back of her head and whispered in her ear, “You never have to worry again. I'll always be there to take care of you Jen.”_

 

Her hands gripped at her upper arms, in an attempt to bring back the sense of comfort and security Josh had always provided her with. “What happened?” She asked herself behind closed eyes and her mind went instantly back to that point in their lives when everything began to go downhill.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr I'm jamiesommers23 and if you want some joshifer fanfics follow joshiferrecs where you'll get a wide selection of authors stories. Thanks for reading ~J


	4. Intimate Strangers: Part Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cause of Josh and Jen's problems are finally coming to light. Will they get past them, or will Jennifer's good fortune be Josh's bad luck?

**Intimate Strangers: Part Four**

“Feeling any better?” Liz asked as Jennifer drank down her morning coffee.

“Yeah,” Jen shrugged off Liz’s question. “So what’s happening today?”

Liz began scrolling through her tablet, “We’ve got an interview scheduled with Ellen. Oh wait, that’s been rescheduled. That damn girl I hired keeps forgetting to make changes to this-” Liz seemed to be lost in her own world. “Give me a sec, Jen.” Liz took her phone to the corner of the room and began an animated conversation while Jen looked over the changes in her script. “She did? When?” Liz flashed Jennifer a concerned expression. “Listen, you need to get those…” Figuring it was probably something office related Jen went back to work while Liz finished up her call, then excused herself to another room to make yet another call. “Jen?” Her eyes had been closed while she memorized her lines, and flew open at the sound of Liz’s voice. “Jen, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Is everything okay?” She immediately grew concerned about her family and then her mind went straight to Josh.

_Towards the end of the long week Jennifer felt every muscle in her body aching. “This has been the longest week of my life,” she grumbled to Sam, and Josh as they sat on the beach waiting for the lighting guys to adjust a few things._

“ _Still feeling bad?” Josh asked with a look of concern._

“ _Oh no,” she wagged her brows at him, forgetting where she was for a second. “I am much… **much** better.”_

“ _Uh…glad to hear it,” Josh flashed a look towards Sam and Jen stopped herself from making an inappropriate suggestion as to what she wanted to do to him._

“ _So, you two boys have any plans tonight?”_

“ _None that I’m aware of,” Sam’s accent was apparent now that the camera wasn’t rolling. “What do you say, Josh? Want to go out and paint the town tonight? We’ve got a late call tomorrow.”_

“ _Oh…um,” his eyes traveled to Jennifer’s._

“ _Can Josh come out to play?” Jen held her face as straight as possible. Though Josh had stayed with her, or she stayed in his room, over the past week, their sexual escapes had been put on hold. Instead they spent their nights lying in bed, sharing some pretty heated kisses, or they’d simply fall asleep. Her 2:00am calls, as well as her cycle, put a damper on their love life. “Or do you want to stay in your hotel room and be thankful you have a few extra hours to yourself tonight. Maybe go to bed early?”_

“ _Well, I_ _ **was**_ _going to get some rest,” he said to Sam. “It has been a long week.”_

“ _Damn Josh, you’re a young man. Surely you aren’t getting tuckered from sitting around a beach?” Sam gave him a smack against his arm. “What do you say? Let’s make a night of it.”_

_Josh gave him a little shake of his head. “I really think I’m going to take it easy tonight. Pick up some dinner-”_

“ _What are you picking up?” Jen interrupted._

“ _I don’t know,” Josh turned his body towards hers. “Why?”_

“ _Remember that thing we got on a stick at that place?”_

“ _The sweet one or the spicy one?” Josh asked._

“ _Sweet,” Jennifer answered._

“ _Yeah?”_

“ _Think they have that here? Oh and one of those Pu-Pu things?” Jennifer was suddenly growing exceptionally hungry for Chinese food. “Spareribs.”_

“ _They come with the thing,” Josh said to her._

“ _They never put enough on there, but where-” Josh grinned at her as her question went unfinished._

“ _CHILO!” They both answered in unison and started laughing._

“ _I’m sitting here listening to every word coming out of your mouths, and yet, I have absolutely no clue what you’re saying,” the look on Sam’s face read massive confusion. “I’m almost worried that you two are talking about me in some sort of code.”_

“ _We haven’t talked about you in front of your face since,” Jennifer looked to Josh for confirmation, “Tuesday?”_

“ _Yeah,” Josh answered with a serious expression on his face. “No. No, it was Monday. Remember the monkeys?”_

_Jennifer gave her head a nod, “Hmm, that’s right.” They were only kidding, but the look on Sam’s face said he was actually falling for it. “Don’t forget that time you two were-”_

_Josh let out a laugh. “The water? I forgot about that.”_

“ _Seriously,” Sam’s eyes grew wide, “I have no clue how you two can have a conversation with one another when you don’t even complete a full sentence.”_

_Jennifer gave Josh’s leg a pat. “He can read my mind.”_

_Josh grabbed her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. “Right now she’s thinking, Sam is such a sucker. He thinks we’ve been talking about him,” then released her cheeks and blew out a breath as though he had just had some form of out of body experience before they both laughed._

“ _I’m walking away,” Sam scowled, “before you two start making sense, and I contract whatever mental illness you two have been stricken with.”_

_They sat there giggling like a couple of schoolkids as Sam went for a drink of water. “So, you coming over tonight or what?” She asked._

“ _Hmm, my choices are, hanging out with Sam or hot sex with you,” he said quietly under his breath so only she could hear. “Sam is an attractive man, but I think I’m going to go with option number two.”_

“ _Damn, I must be special if you’re choosing me over Sam. It’s been hard to compete with that guy.”_

“ _You give better head,” Josh laughed when Jennifer made a hand gesture as though she were giving a blow job._

“ _Bet he’s all teeth,” she got up and dusted the sand off of her butt. “Someone needs to teach him how to give a hummer if he wants to keep your bromance alive and kicking.”_

“ _Okay guys…” It was time to get to work._

_By the time they finished filming for the day the sun had come and gone, and so did most of the cast. Josh, Jen and Sam piled into the car that would take them back to the hotel, and Sam tried once again to lure Josh into a night out, but he declined._

“ _That is Ma_ _ **hog**_ _any,” came from Josh’s phone, and Jen cracked up laughing._

“ _What the hell is that?” Josh swiped at the screen of his phone to see he had a text._

“ _ **Hey mate,”**_ _Jen read Josh’s text over his shoulder from Liam. “_ _ **Like your new ringtone? Jen said you couldn’t get enough of Elizabeth’s voice, so I sent her an mp3 of it.”**_

“ _Oh,” his humorous glare had her giggling. “You are…” he continued with a text,_ _ **“so going to get it for this.”**_ _He texted her and the sound of his voice saying, “Mmmm, that’s nice,” came from her phone._

“ _ **What?”**_ _She couldn’t stop laughing while she texted him. “_ _ **You said you didn’t want my voice on there so Liam and I improvised.”**_

“ _That is ma_ _ **hog**_ _any!”_

_Her voice picked up where her text left off. “ Don’t you…” She texted,_ _**“like it?”** _ _She giggled._

“ _That is ma_ _ **hog**_ _any!”_

“ _ **Yeah,”**_ _he texted back._

“ _Mmmm, that’s nice.”_

“ _ **Love it,”** he said through a teasing glare. _

“ _Mmmm, that’s nice.”_

“ _You are so…” his fingers moved rapidly across his phone, **“going to get it.”**_

“ _Mmmm, that’s nice.”_

“ _Oh for the love of God, you’re doing it again,” Sam sighed before turning to face them. “Do you two even know what you sound like? Let me see if I can recreate this conversation for you,” Sam cleared his throat, “What the hell was that? Oh, you are…” he tried to imitate Josh, but failed miserably. “Don’t you…,” he did a passable Jen. “You are so…” he took on Josh again. “Surely you must realize to those of us that have retained our sanity, that makes no sense whatsoever.”_

“ _She changed my ringtone,” Josh chuckled. “Now every time-”_

“ _Yes, I heard the ever popular Effie Trinket quote,” Sam curled his lips downward, “but what is, ‘Mmmm, that’s nice?’”_

“ _Josh said that when I was feeding him soup-”_

“ _God that stuff tasted like crap,” Josh jumped in. “Why couldn’t they just tint some water yellow to make it look like broth?”_

“ _You know I peed in that thing, right?” Their laughter began to bubble up again._

“ _I give up,” Sam threw his hands in the air. Jen and Josh laughed again, and shrugged their shoulders. She had no clue why Sam wasn’t laughing too. They were funny. At least she and Josh thought they were. The rest of the trip was spent sending texts back and forth to one another until Sam reached out and grabbed their phones from them. “I swear to you, if I hear those damn ringtones one more time, I’m going to take someone hostage. You can have them back when we get to the hotel.” He shoved them in his pocket, but that still didn’t stop the antics between Josh and Jen._

_She decided to roll the window down as they passed the candy store, “Josh look,” she pointed outside. “Hand dipped pretzels!” She clapped her hands together. “I want one! We should stop. Let’s stop.”_

“ _We are not stopping,” Sam spoke to them like he was an annoyed childcare provider. “One of us has plans this evening.”_

_Jen positioned herself so Sam couldn’t see what she was about to do, and stroked her fingers over the zipper of Josh’s pants. “I’ve got plans too,” she whispered as Josh’s eyes bulged out of his head._

“ _What plans?” Sam asked and Jen dropped her jaw exceptionally wide when she realized that he had heard her._

“ _Well,” she thought fast as she let her hand roam up and down Josh’s quickly growing erection, “I was going to stop at the candy store, but some_ _ **body**_ _is being a big baby about it.”_

“ _Jennifer, if you’d like to stop, we can stop, but I warn you. I will be expecting a large quantity of candy for my trouble,” Sam’s smile said he wasn’t quite that upset with her and Josh after all._

“ _No,” Josh said quickly. “I can’t stop. I…I have to get back.”_

“ _For what?” Jen asked innocently while she gripped his, now raging hard on through his pants, blocking it from Sam’s view. “Have something…hard pressed to attend to?”_

“ _You could say that,” he said with a tight jaw._

_Every time the muscles in his jaw clenched she wanted to nibble her way around it. “Far be it from me to keep you from your…urgent issue.” She faced Sam again, and removed her hand from Josh. “Guess he’s not going to get anything sweet to eat.”_

_The second they entered her hotel room, Josh pushed her up against the door and ripped the damp panties she had on, out from under her sundress. “I owe you a kiss,” he said with a storm raging in his eyes then proceeded to bury his face between her legs, not stopping until her fingers dug into his scalp and she called out his name. “Mmmm,” he grinned up at her from his kneeling spot between her legs, “that’s nice.” He chuckled. “And you said I wasn’t going to get anything sweet to eat.”_

“ _Sweet,” she dropped her head back._

“ _I’ll call Chilo,” Josh stopped into the bathroom before heading to the phone in order to place an order for some food. She loved the fact that he knew what she meant by simply saying one word. Sometimes, she swore he actually could read her mind. “It’ll be up in about an hour.”_

“ _Guess we’ve got time to kill,” she took his hand and dragged him to the sofa, pushing him down by the shoulders. “Want to see what these blow job lips are capable of?”_

“ _Hell yes,” he answered eagerly._

_The night seemed to fly by. A picnic of some pretty spectacular Chinese food, though Jen was slightly disappointed they didn’t have the thing on the stick, a hot shower in which Josh took her from behind providing her with two amazing orgasms, and then a quick romp in one of the overstuffed chiars while watching The First Wives Club._

_The sound of Jen’s phone ringing woke her from a dead sleep. The empty spot next to her said that Josh was missing. “Oh my God,” she pressed the button on the phone to answer thinking that he had gone in for an early call and something terrible had happened. “Hello?”_

“ _Jen? You must be thrilled right now.” Her agent’s voice spoke to her in a rushed tone._

“ _What happened? Is Josh okay? Is he hurt?” She could feel the panic rising from the pit of her stomach._

“ _I don’t know,” her agent sounded a bit confused._

“ _Then why are you calling?” She ran her hand over her head, trying to get her thoughts together. Josh was gone. Could he have been called in early? She told herself, no. Sam had made a comment about them having a late call today. “Hold on,” she dropped the phone onto the mattress and ran to the main area to see if Josh was there, finding the room empty. “What the hell is going on?” She exclaimed the moment she retrieved her phone. “Did the set burn down or something? Christ, what happened to Josh? Is he okay?”_

“ _Jen, you really don’t know do you?” her agent’s voice perked up._

“ _Know what?” She was getting exceptionally pissed off._

“ _Congratulations are in order, Jennifer.”_

“ _Congratulations?” Jennifer had no clue what was happening. “What for?”_

“ _The Golden Globe nominations came out. You’ve been nominated for best actress!”_

“ _Jen?” The sound of Josh’s voice coming from across the room had her dropping the phone from her hands._

“ _Where the hell were you?” She ran to straight into his arms.“I was worried sick.”_

“ _I was in the bathroom.” Josh brushed the hair back from her face. “What’s going on? Is everything all right?”_

“ _Fine now that I know you’re okay,” she breathed out a sigh of relief. “I got nominated for a Golden Globe.”_

“ _What!?” Josh pulled away from her. “Holy shit? When did this happen?”_

“ _Oh my God,” she lifted her finger over her lips to silence Josh and grabbed the phone. “Sorry. I’m sorry. Someone knocked on the door.” Jennifer’s voice began to shake as the news began to sink in. She spoke with her agent, for about twenty minutes, who informed her that Liz had arrived there late last night, just in case, and was working on setting up some interviews for her to give later that morning. “Oh my God,” Jennifer exclaimed when she finally hung up._

“ _Holy shit, Jen,” Josh squeezed her. “You got nominated for a fucking Golden Globe!”_

“ _I know,” she gripped his back. “Holy shit. Holy shit!!” She took his hands in hers and began jumping up and down. The excitement on his face matched hers. “This is crazy.”_

“ _You know you’re going to get an Oscar nom now? You were brilliant in Silver Linings.” He led her to the edge of the bed. “Wow,” his breathy tone had her pulse pounding. “You’re not only going to get nominated for an Oscar, you’re going to win.”_

“ _Yeah, sure I am,” she rolled her eyes and straddled his lap. Worrying about whether or not she’d get an award for her work was something she tried to avoid at all cost, but she couldn’t deny the news this morning, got her libido going. “I need to celebrate. Let’s celebrate.”_

“ _What did you have in mind? Want to order some champagne or something?”_

“ _Not exactly what I had in mind.” Her mouth devoured his as she pushed him back onto the bed, only to wind up rolling onto the floor in a tangle of bedding and laughter. “This is the best morning ever!” She sat straddling his naked lap._

“ _Damn right it is,” he pulled her face down to his and placed his lips against hers. “Golden Globe Winner, Jennifer Lawrence. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”_

“ _Maybe,” she could feel herself blushing._

“ _Personally, I like the way that sounds.” Josh placed a kiss against her lips and said, “I honestly think this is the proudest moment of my life,” he let out a little laugh._

“ _You’d think you were the one that got nominated.”_

“ _This is much better than me getting nominated.”_

_Jen leaned over him and stared into his eyes. “Me getting a nom is better than you getting one?”_

_His fingers got lost in her hair. “Haven’t you figured it out yet, Jen?” She shook her head in wonder. “There’s nothing I want more than to see you succeed. I want the world for you.”_

_Jennifer’s mind was exhilarated, but her body felt like it had been put through the ringer. She and Josh had gone from sex on her bedroom floor to assuming a sixty-nine position on the living room floor.“Oooh, phone,” she stumbled towards the bedroom to grab her cell._

“ _Jen? Josh Horowitz. Congratulations,” she had always loved interviewing with the host of MTV’s After Hours. To Jennifer, he was the only interviewer she could picture herself having a drink or hanging out with._

“ _Thanks,” her face hurt from smiling so much._

“ _You must have been anxiously awaiting the nominations this morning.”_

_Jen let out a nervous laugh, “I had no idea the nominations were this morning.”_

“ _You mean you weren’t waiting by your phone for the call telling you, you got nominated?” The MTV reporter asked._

“ _God, no.” She smiled up at Josh who was standing in the doorway of the bedroom with no clothes on. “M-T-V,” she mouthed to him, and pointed to the phone so Josh would know she was doing an interview. He was about to step out of the room when Jen said, “Hold on a second.” She placed her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, “Come here,” and patted at the bed for Josh to take a seat next to her. For some reason just knowing he was there put her at ease. “Okay, I’m back,” she spoke into the phone._

“ _So you said you didn’t know the nominations were this morning, don’t you think most people in your line of work sort of…hang on the edge of their seats for moments like this?”_

“ _Honestly, I try not to dwell on awards or nominations too much,” Jen reached out a hand and threaded her fingers through Josh’s._ _"My trick, and I don’t know if it’s a trick or just a part of my personality that I can’t help, but I don’t think about it too much." Jen went on to answer the reporters many questions about her cast, her current filming schedule, and how great of an opportunity it was to make the movie._

“ _Tell me what it was like for you this morning when you found out.”_

“ _Oh God,” Jennifer started to laugh. “My agent called me at 5:30 and I thought the set of my movie had burned down, or Josh had died or something.” She gave his hand a squeeze and he placed a kiss against it. “I didn’t realize! I was so tired!"_

“ _Any plans to celebrate today?”_

_"Oh yeah,” she rolled her eyes. “Big plans. I’m covered in dirt, I’m drinking coffee, and then I’m going to go get into a swamp later. I’m basically just doing what all the other nominees are doing today," she chuckled. “We’re all getting in a swamp together!" The sound of the doorbell rang and Josh stood up to get it. “Josh, put some clothes on before answering that door. I don’t need your cute little ass showing up on every teenage girl’s blog by the end of the day. That ass is mine,” she let out a little giggle._

“ _Jen!” Josh’s eyes flew wide open._

“ _Excuse me?” The MTV reporter that shared the same name as the naked man standing in front of her sounded taken aback. “Were you talking to me or is…is Josh there with you?”_

“ _No…um…” she could have smacked herself silly for not thinking before she spoke. “Josh, I have to go. Someone’s at my door. It’s probably my publicist or something.”_

“ _Of course, Jen. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me.”_

“ _Yeah. Anytime,” she could see the panic in Josh’s eyes across the room as the doorbell went unanswered for a second time. “Take care,” she hung up the phone and dropped her head into her hands. “Oh, shit.”_

“Jen, I just got off the phone with Angie,” Liz took a seat next to her. “Josh has confirmed that he’s going to be at the awards show on Sunday. He’s introducing the trailer to Catching Fire with Liam.”

“He’s…he’s going? I thought he was in Panama?” Jennifer had been following his whereabouts, without anyone’s knowledge, by surfing the web.

“He is, but Angie said he called her late last night to confirm that he’d be going.” Liz gave her hand a pat. “He had originally told her a couple of hours earlier that he wasn’t going to go.”

“Why?” Jennifer stood up and began pacing. “Why did he change his mind?”

Liz gave her shoulders a shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe you should go there and ask him?”

… _.._

… _.._

… _.._

… _.._

… _._

“We’ve got a two week break in filming,” Angie was going over Josh’s schedule with him as they traveled to the set in the back of a dark SUV. “Your flight will land Sunday afternoon, so you’re not going to have much time to prepare for the awards show. I’ve also scheduled an interview with…”

Josh stared out the window as Angie ran down his schedule. “Thought you said I had a two week break?”

“You do,” Angie gave him a strange look. “From filming, not from your career.”

He had been considering something since the night before, and now he knew he had to do it. “Ang, leave my schedule open on Monday and Tuesday. I need to go somewhere.”

“Monday won’t be a problem, but Tuesday we’ve set up an an appearance at a charity event.”

“Angie, I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying here. It’s not a request. I need some time off.”

“I’ll have my assistant cancel.” She sat quietly for a few minutes. “Does this have anything to do with…” she glanced towards the driver then back at Josh, “…you know who?”

Josh let out a breath of air. “I just need some time off, Ang. If you could make that happen, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Want me to free your schedule for the next two weeks? I can do that. It’s not like we had planned on anything anyway. You were supposed to be shooting in Panama. Maybe you should take a little break, Josh? Get some rest. Hang out with some friends.”

Joshed leaned his head back against the seat of the car. “It would be nice, but I don’t know yet.” He rolled his head towards the window, and watched the world as it passed him by.

“ _Just stay calm,” Josh raced into the other room and pulled on his pants and shirt before opening up the door. “Oh, thanks.” He had ordered a couple of mimosas for him and Jen in order to toast her nomination. “I’ll take the cart,” he grabbed the tab from the delivery person and signed for it. “I put your tip on there.” He pulled the cart into the room and left it untouched. “Jen?”_

_He found her sitting on the edge of the bed exactly as he left her, with her head in her hands. “What did I do?”_

“ _It’s okay. We’ll…we’ll figure it out,” he knelt before her, and placed his hands on her knees. “It’s going to be fine. Tell me what Josh said to you.”_

“ _He asked me if I was talking to him, and then he asked if you were here,” Jennifer pushed his hands from her knees and stood up, violently throwing a pillow across the room. “What the fuck was I thinking? He’s probably salivating at getting that fucking sound bite from me.”_

“ _Jen, you know he’s not like that. He probably doesn’t even know how to react to it.” Josh ran his hands over her shoulders from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist._

“ _Are you crazy!? He’s a reporter!” She turned to face him. “I just got nominated for a fucking Golden Globe. If it gets out that you and I have been fucking around that’s the only thing the press will want to talk about. Jesus, they still think Nick and I are together!” Her hands covered her face._

“ _I know that,” he tried not to appear hurt. “You’re absolutely right. You don’t need you and me overshadowing everything you’ve achieved.” He reached for his phone. “I think we need to get in touch with Angie and Liz.”_

“ _I told you, we can’t say anything, Josh. We can’t tell people about us,” she turned her back to him._

“ _I meant, so they could put a stop to MTV airing that recording with you. They have sound bites, Jen.” He could see how much this was taking a toll on her and it broke his heart. “I know you don’t want to tell anyone, but I think we can trust our publicists. They’re paid to take care of this sort of thing.”_

“ _Yeah,” she spoke softly to him. “I’ll give Liz a call.”_

“ _Hey,” he stopped her from leaving the room. “Come here,” he pulled her in for a hug and placed a kiss against her forehead. “Don’t let this get you down. Every actor has dreamed of what they would say when winning a Golden Globe,” he pressed his forehead against hers. “Don’t tell me you didn’t practice your acceptance speech in front of the bathroom mirror.”_

_She let out a little laugh. “No, I did. I used to use my loofah as a prop.”_

“ _I used my shampoo bottle. We all do it,” he confessed as he pulled the upper part of his body away from her and stared into her eyes. “Just remember, out of all the actresses in the world, you were the one chosen for this honor.”_

“ _You’re talking like I’ve already won the damn thing.”_

“ _You know you’ve got this, right?” Josh gently teased. “I’d put money on a clean sweep.” He held her hands out from their bodies, and called out, “And the Golden Globe goes to…Jennifer Lawrence. The People’s Choice Award goes to…Jennifer Lawrence! The Actor goes to…JENNIFER LAWRENCE!” She started laughing at him. “AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…WAIT FOR IT…JENNIFER LAWRENCE!!!!” He cupped his hands around the sides of his mouth and made the sound of a crowd cheering._

“ _Stop it,” she punched at his shoulder and threw her arms around his neck in a hug._

“ _Go on,” he gently pushed her away. “Go call Liz. They’ll fix this in no time.”_

_Josh got a hold of his publicist within seconds, and explained the situation at hand. “You need to do something, Ang. You’re out there. Can you handle this?”_

“ _Josh, have you thought about this?” Angie asked him. “Do you have any idea what being her new love interest could do for your career?”_

“ _What?” It was the first time he had ever truly been angry with his publicist since she started working for him. “No. NO!”_

“ _Josh, my job is to take care of your career, not Jennifer’s. She’s got her own publicist for that. All I’m suggesting is that you give this a little thought before we quell it.”_

“ _I don’t have to give it any thought!” Josh could feel his temper raging out of control. “The answer is no!”_

“ _People leak these types of things to benefit their careers all the time, Josh. Hell, Kim Kardashian’s mother was the one that made her do the sex tape and then leaked it.”_

“ _Angie,” he blew out a breath through his flared nostrils and tried to get a hold of himself, “if this thing leaks because of something you did, you can consider yourself fired, and trust me when I say, I’ll make sure everyone knows that you went against your client’s wishes.”_

“ _Jesus, Josh,” her tone completely changed. “I was only trying to think of a way to spin this into some positive press for you. You don’t have to threaten me. I repeat, you pay me to take care of your public image, not Jennifer’s. ”_

“ _As far as this goes, Jennifer’s image is the one that’s important. Not mine. Have I made myself clear?”_

“ _Crystal,” Angie said sharply. “Can I just point something out here?”_

“ _I’d rather you didn’t,” he was already angry with the woman, he didn’t want her to push her luck._

“ _Too damn bad. If this was any other actress, you’d let the story break.”_

“ _This isn’t any other actress. It’s Jennifer, and the only story I want publicized is how incredible her performance was in Silver Linings Playbook. **She’s** the one we need to worry about, Angie. It’s **her** image we need to protect from here on out, okay? When it comes to me and Jennifer, her career will always be the priority to me.” _

_There was a long pause before Angie said, “You could have started with the fact that you’re in love with her. It would have avoided a lot.” Josh didn’t know how to respond. “Is Liz out there? I’m going to get with her and figure out a game plan.”_

“ _I don’t think she’s here in the room, but-” Josh turned to face the doorway and saw Jennifer standing in it with her phone in her hand and a look of shock spread across her face. “Ang, you’ll have to call Liz. I have to go.” He ended the call with the push of a button and without saying goodbye. “Jen-”_

“ _I heard you yelling. I thought something was wrong.” She looked like she was lost as she continually gestured from the bedroom to the living area. “I thought maybe…you…” she lifted her eyes to his, “…I’m…my…” she stammered, “…my care…career is…” she sucked in a deep breath._

“ _Jen, Angie thought maybe we should try to publicize this, but I explained to her that no one even knew about you and Nick breaking up, and I couldn’t let this tarnish all that you’ve worked for.” Josh could see the panic in her eyes._

“ _You’d give it up for me, wouldn’t you?” She stood staring at him, frozen in place. “You’d give up your career for mine?”_

_He stepped towards her and captured her fidgety hands in his. “I told you, I’d give up everything for the right woman, and she’d never have to ask.” he lifted his eyes to hers. “You never have to ask, Jen.”_

“I need you to do something else for me,” Josh turned towards Angie. “Can you get a flight to Montreal for me early Monday morning?”

A huge smile blossomed across Angie’s face. “It’s about damn time. I just talked to Liz this morning and I’ve got Jennifer’s contact information while she’s in Canada.”

“You…” he let out a surprised guffaw, “…you talked to Liz this morning?”

“Well,” Angie had the grace to momentarily look away, “we’ve sort of been talking every day since this has been going on, just in case you two decided to make a go of it.”

Josh sniffed out a brunt of air. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“Not lately,” she gave his leg a pat.

“I do,” he grinned. “I honestly do.”

…..

…..

…..

…..

…..

“Good morning,” Jennifer shuddered at the sound of Nick’s voice from behind her.

“Morning,” she promised herself she’d be nice, but every time she looked at him, she felt like she wasted two years of her life on him. One of which she could have spent with Josh. “How are you today?”

“Fine,” he gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek. “You?”

“Great.”

“I appreciate you taking the time to have breakfast with me. I know how tight our schedules are going to be,” Nick pulled out his chair and took a seat across from Jennifer at one of the craft services tables.

“I actually wanted to talk to you before we started filming.” Jennifer took a sip from her coffee cup. “I’m sorry about the other day. I wasn’t feeling well, plus I had barely been in my room for ten minutes before you showed up. Things have been pretty hectic for me lately, and I took that out on you.” She failed to tell him the real reason for her bad mood.

_They had eight more days of shooting left in Hawaii, and then it was back to LA. Jennifer still hadn’t figured out how to respond to Josh’s implication of love in her hotel room._

_Liz had shown up within seconds to inform them that she and Angie were working on taking care of the problem before it blew up. “Angie’s on the phone with Josh Horowitz as we speak. She’ll give me a call back as soon as-” her phone started to ring. “That’s her now. Let me put her on speaker.” Liz pressed a button. “Angie? I’ve got Josh and Jen here. You’re on speaker.”_

“ _Good. I spoke with Horowitz, and he’s willing to keep your sound bites out of the press, but I can’t guarantee that the man won’t make some sort of comment at some point. Let’s face it, when push comes to shove, he’s a reporter. The one thing you two have going for you is that he’s a huge fan of the both of you. As a matter of fact, he actually asked me to pass on a message to you both.” She paused. “He wanted me to tell you that he’s thrilled for you both and he hopes this works out. He did ask me about Nick, and with Liz’s permission, I told him that the two of you broke up, but you wanted to keep it out of the media for now.”_

“ _Did he agree to that, Ang?” Josh asked._

“ _Surprisingly, he did. Like I said, he’s a huge fan of both of you.”_

“ _Well, that’s good news, right?” Josh looked to Jen._

“ _Yeah,” Jennifer said it, but she didn’t believe it._

“ _That’s about all we can do for now. If something more happens, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Angie finished up. “Liz, I’ll give you a call later, and we can start working out a game plan if Horowitz spills the beans.”_

“ _Sounds good, Angie. Talk to you later,” Liz ended the call. “Well, that’s that.” She looked between Jennifer and Josh. “I would leave you two alone, but I really need to work through a few things with Jennifer before she leaves for the set.”_

“ _Sure,” Josh threw a glance in Jennifer’s direction. “Guess I’ll see you later.”_

“ _Okay,” Jennifer had no clue why she was filled with disappointment. “Josh,” she brushed past Liz and caught him before he left. “Thanks,” she finally took notice of the drinks he had ordered for them. “I’m sorry I screwed this up.”_

“ _You didn’t screw anything up.” He looked over her shoulder then back at Jennifer. “Since Liz knows, do you think it would be okay if I kissed you goodbye?”_

_Her heart swelled at his sweet request. “Yes,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with an exuberant amount of passion. “I enjoyed our celebration this morning,” she spoke against his lips. “I’d be more than happy to celebrate again later if you want.”_

“ _I told Sam I’d go out with him tonight since I blew him off last night.” Josh pressed a kiss against her cheek. “However, you do have my room key, and if you weren’t in my bed tonight when I got back, I’d be very disappointed.”_

_The last day of shooting was quickly upon them, and Josh and Jen had spent more time apart then together after filming. Since she had 2am calls, there were nights where she just fell into bed face first…alone. On the nights that she did spend by herself, she made sure to ring his bell and stroll past his door laughing._

“ _Hey!” He called to her down the long corridor. “Come back here!”_

“ _Gotta go,” she waved from a few yards away. “Don’t want to keep Francy waiting.”_

“ _Bring your ass over here or I’m going to ride down in the elevator with you dressed like this,” he quickly stepped into the hall showing her that he was completely naked, then jumped back into his room._

_The sight of his nude body, and his semi-erect penis, did something to her. “You talked me into it.” She hurried to his room and got tangled up in his arms. “God, I hate this,” she grumbled._

“ _You hate this now? Wait till we get back home. What the hell are you going to do when I’m not a few hundred feet away from you?”_

_His words stayed with her for the rest of the day, and throughout the remainder of their stay in Hawaii. Everyone wanted to go out the last night they were there, but Josh and Jen declined. She waited on the edge of his bed for him to show up, with worry coursing through her veins._

“ _Sorry I’m late,” he walked up to her and placed a kiss on her mouth. “Sam wouldn’t stop until I had a drink with him.”_

“ _It’s okay,” she watched as he kicked off his flip flops and ran his hands through his hair. She sat there watching him as he stripped down to nothing, claiming he wanted to take a shower. It had never dawned on her how intimate the act of watching him undress was. Anyone could strip a person down for the purposes of sex, but there was something so much more personal about the every day things people did as a part of their lives. It struck her that he was right. She had no idea what she was going to do once they were back home. Would their relationship continue? And if it did, wouldn’t people find out about it? Now that she had been nominated for a Golden Globe, she worried about the press hounding her. “Josh?” She walked into the bathroom and sat on the cover of the toilet. “Have you given any thought to what we’re going to do once we go back home tomorrow?”_

“ _To be honest, I’ve been trying to pretend like it’s not going to happen,” he poked his head out of the shower. “Come in here with me?”_

_She had taken a shower earlier, but she didn’t want to pass up this opportunity with him. Stripping herself down to nothing, she noticed him watching her from the open glass door. “See anything you like?” She asked with her hand on her hip and her breasts jutted forward._

“ _Not really,” he said with a straight face then smiled._

_She stood under the giant shower head with him, wrapped up in his arms, her face pressed into his neck and her heart feeling as though it were being ripped from her chest. “You’re going to forget all about me when we get home, aren’t you? You’re going to hook up with that Disney slut, with the Jumanji bush, and act like I never even existed.”_

“ _Yeah, right.” He ran his hands up and down her wet spine. “You’re going to be so busy with all of the awards shows you’re going to, you won’t even have time to think about me.”_

“ _I would think about you if you came with me.” She didn’t know where that came from._

“ _If I did that, no one would ever pay attention to what’s really important.” He pulled back from her and shielded her face from the sprays of the water with his back. “Besides, we’ll get to start off the awards season together. We’ve got the People’s Choice coming up, and I’m going to be sitting in the front row watching you collect your first trophy of the season.”_

“ _Promise?”_

“ _Scout’s honor,” he kissed her softly._

“ _You were never a scout.”_

_His nose crinkled. “Okay, how about this one? Cross my heart. Hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye.”_

“ _Oh no,” she shook her head slowly from side to side. “You can’t die, and don’t even think about ruining those beautiful eyes of yours.”_

“ _All right,” he ran his hands over the apples of her bottom. “How about, nothing short of a disaster will keep me from watching you win that award?”_

“ _I can accept that one,” their mouths met in a wet kiss. “Take me to bed?”_

“ _It would be my honor, Miss. Lawrence.”_

_From the moment they stepped foot in California, Jennifer’s life was no longer her own. Everywhere she went there were at least a dozen or more cameras following her, hounding her for information on her life. “Jen, where’s Nick? Jen, how’d filming go in Hawaii? Jen, do you know what you’re wearing to the People’s Choice Awards this weekend?” Ignoring them had become quite the chore. Her days were filled with interviews, dress fittings, photo shoots, and her nights filled with loneliness. The only communication she had with Josh was via text messages, and on occasion she’d get a few minutes to talk to him. The only thing she could hold onto was the fact that they’d get to spend their evening together, even though Liam would be a third wheel, during the People’s Choice Awards._

“ _Where are they?” Jennifer walked down the red carpet slowly just in case Liam and Josh showed up._

“ _I don’t know,” Liz answered. “Even Angie is getting worried.”_

_Jennifer kept hearing Josh’s words about a disaster preventing him from showing up. “Something’s wrong.”_

“ _Nothing’s wrong,” Liz guided her towards the next interview._

“ _Jen, hi!”Yet another microphone was stuck in her face, and she put on a smile for the cameras all the while, none of the people around her knew the sheer terror she felt in the pit of her stomach over the absence of Josh. Sure she was worried about Liam too, but Josh had sworn he’d be there._

“ _Jen,” Liz’s hand guided her to yet another microphone, and whispered in her ear, “My assistant is working on finding them, and Angie is on the phone with her assistant too.”_

_Jennifer sat in the front row of the audience, waiting…worrying, acting like she was having the time of her life sitting next to two complete strangers hired to fill seats so there would never be an empty one shown on television. Her nervous laughter did nothing to help make it through the night, nor did the shake of Liz’s head when Jennifer lifted her hands in a gesture clearing asking, ‘Where are they?’._

“ _He’s our favorite hero with the Arrow, and she’s heating up the screen on Homeland.” The mellow voice of the female announcer began. “Please welcome, Stephen Amell and Morena Baccarin.”_

_Morena began reading off of the prompt for favorite movie actress, and Jennifer’s pulse began to race. He was supposed to be there. Jennifer took a huge breath and pushed all thoughts of Josh aside, and tried to concentrate on what was happening in front of her. The cameras would be on her whether she won or lost. The montage of clips showing each of the actresses work played, and Jennifer had to admit, when she saw herself as Katniss screaming out, “I volunteer,” it clenched the knot in her stomach that much tighter._

“ _You know you’ve got this, right?” For a second she thought it was Josh behind her as a hand was briefly placed on her shoulder. She glanced behind her to see Robert Downey Jr. give her a wink. Earlier when she had met the man she shook his hand with an exceptionally sweaty palm as he leaned in and said to her, “Don’t tell Scarlet I voted for you,” then laughed it off._

“ _Aaand the People’s Choice is…” Stephen opened the envelope._

_The sight of Josh standing in front of her with her hands spread open saying, “…Jennifer Lawrence,” flashed in her mind. She kept the smile plastered on her face, just in case she lost. She wanted to show her support for her fellow nominees._

_Stephen leaned into the microphone and announced, “…Jennifer Lawrence.”_

_There was no one to hug. No one cheering next to her, but Jen kept her smile and walked to the stage to accept her award. She thanked the people she needed to thank, including Josh and Liam, and followed the girl that led her offstage to see Liz standing amongst the flock of press waiting to get Jennifer’s picture. “Anything?” She said through a smile._

“ _I can’t reach any of them on their cells, but Angie has just gotten in touch with the limo company, so we should know soon enough.”_

“ _Good,” Jen smiled as Liz led her towards the first area to take a photo._

_Thirty minutes later, Jennifer was sitting in her seat again, next to the same random people when she saw Josh and Liam quickly hurrying towards their seats. She hadn’t meant to flash Josh an evil look…no, she did._

“ _Sorry,” he mumbled to her. “I didn’t know what shoes to wear with this suit.”_

“ _Shoes?” They were just about to come back from a commercial break. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say?”_

“ _Uh…” he leaned over Liam who had taken the seat between them. “Congratulations?”_

“ _Joshua Ryan Hutcherson,” she smiled brightly when the music started playing, the signal that the show was back on the air, and said through her false bravado, “I am so going to get even with you for this.”_

“ _Sit back,” Liam said to the two of them who were now leaning in front of him. “They’re about to start.”_

_The Hunger Games had won for best movie, and as they stood on stage, accepting their statue that had been awarded from the every day people of the world, and not some group of industry people, Jennifer could finally enjoy herself thoroughly. She had convinced Josh to do her talking for her, if they won, beforehand, and as he stood there making his speech on live television, one thing kept running through her head, she had to make him sorry for sitting there alone all night long. She wasn’t sure what made her do it, reaching out and pinching his ass, except that she was hoping to would make them even now. Josh simply swatted her hand away and continued talking like it was an every day occurrence. As they made their way off the stage, he spoke through his large smile, under his breath to her. “You’re going to pay for that.”_

“ _I already did,” she said in a sing-song voice._

_Interviews, meeting a million stars that Jennifer was in awe of, and a crowd of people, hindered their topic of conversation. Everything was about the movie or Jennifer’s success. It wasn’t until the crowd thinned out that Josh asked, “Want to go to the parties or back to my place?”_

“ _Um…” she knew he’d want to spend some time alone, but it wasn’t really ideal at that moment in time. “Josh uh-”_

“ _Yeah. I know. The pencil is red,” he laughed._

_That wasn’t the reason, but it had still surprised her to hear this from him.“How the hell did you know that?” She stepped back from him in shock._

“ _It happened the same time last month, Jen. Isn’t that how it usually works for you women?” He turned away from her so his shoulder was up against hers and said, “I don’t care. I just want some time alone with you. I miss you.”_

_As much as she wanted to stay angry with him, his heartfelt sentiment left her with a loss of words, and a world of confusion. “I can’t.”_

“ _Look, Jen, I’m sorry we were late, but trust me when I say it couldn’t be helped. Please don’t be mad.”_

“ _I’m not mad. Not anymore anyway.” She hemmed and hawed for a moment. “I’m having a sleepover with my parents.”_

“ _Oh,” the disappointment on his face broke her heart. “Well, some other time then.”_

_It came as a shock to her that she would rather have gone home with him, and cuddled up with Driver, than spend time with her family. Her family members were the most important people in her life._

“ _Guess you got even with me after all,” he placed a friendly kiss on her cheek. “Have fun tonight,” he lifted a hand in a wave as he walked off, and like a punch to the gut, she realized that Josh had become just as important to her as her family. Somewhere in the middle of their ‘fucking friendship,’ she had fallen in love._

“You didn’t deserve to be on the end of my wrath the other day,” Jennifer said to Nick over her cup of coffee. “I really am sorry.”

“As am I,” he gave her the smile he had perfected over the years. The one he rehearsed in front of the mirror, and now had down to a science. “Now that the awkwardness is out of the way, tell me how things are going for you. As if I don’t know,” his laughter sounded almost contrite. “You’ve certainly have an impressive list of awards to add to your resume.”

“I guess,” she shrugged it off. “Awards were never really why I got into acting.”

“ _Why does everyone assume these fucking trophies are the reason I do my job?” She complained to Josh on one of their rare nights alone together._

“ _Because they don’t know you the way I do,” he pulled her in for a hug. “They don’t know that the little table out there with all those awards on it, don’t mean as much to you as that feeling of joy you get when you’re playing a role.” Josh lifted her face by the chin and placed a kiss on her lips. “You know what I think of when you get all frustrated with this award business?” He continued without pause. “That story you told about doing that thing for MTV, and how you earned your SAG card.”_

“ _That was the highlight of my career,” her lashes fluttered, “until I got cast opposite of you.”_

“ _Well, that’s more of a personal highlight, but I appreciate it.” He linked them together by their fingers. “You and I both know, you’re not doing this for the awards. You’re doing this because it’s what you were born to do. Your love of bringing people joy. That’s what drives you, Jen. Not those stupid statues.”_

“Awards may not have been the reason any of us get into this profession, but it eventually becomes the reason we all stay in this profession.” Nick laughed at his joke, which Jennifer didn’t find the least bit funny. “Shall we order?”

“Actually,” she was starving, but she couldn’t stay there another minute, “I need to get back. My schedule is insane. I’m supposed to be filming a spot for MTV in a little while.”

“Too bad you can’t get there to introduce your trailer. I hear it’s going to be something. Alas, your career comes above all else, am I right? That _is_ the reason you and I failed to work out.” Nick picked up his menu and studied it.

Jennifer stood from her seat, staring at Nick, thinking his comment callous until she realized he had hit the nail on the head. “See you later,” she grabbed her purse, and went back to her hotel room to hide out for a few hours. She continued to hear Nick’s words repeating in her mind about choosing her job over him, and Josh’s about giving it all up for her. She whipped her cell from her purse, and pushed the button to call Liz. “Hey,” there was fire in Jennifer’s voice, “tell MTV they don’t need to get me on tape. I’m going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr I'm jamiesommers23 or come on over to my joshifer fanfiction blog featuring a multitude of author's works called joshiferrecs.   
> Thanks for reading ~J


	5. Intimate Strangers: Part Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Issues of trust and tolerance are thrust upon Josh and Jen. Will they make it over the hurdles life has been throwing in front of them or will they trip and fall?

**Intimate Strangers: Part Five**

Privacy was now a privilege she no longer was privy to. Having a modicum of a personal life, was a thing of the past. At any given moment of the day, someone was hanging on her every word. Do you need anything? Try this dress on. Talk with this reporter. So and so wants you for a film. Phrases, she always thought she longed to hear, were now her undoing. Cameras were everywhere. Jennifer chuckled to herself when she thought of her father flipping off some paparazzi while they were pumping gas.

“What’s so funny?” Her publicist barely left her side lately.

“I was just thinking about my dad giving the scumbags the finger.” Jennifer shoved a couple of items into an overnight bag. “You’ve got everything set with the flight?”

“Yup,” Liz answered.

“Good,” Jennifer blew out a tiny breath of air. “Christ, I’m shaking like a fucking leaf.”

“You feeling okay?” Liz reached out and pressed her palm to Jennifer’s forehead. “You’re not getting sick again, are you?”

“No… _mom_ ,” she rolled her eyes at her overprotective publicist’s concerns, and thought about the night she got diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

“ _Jen, do you want us to wake you so you can watch?” Her mother asked as Jennifer slipped one of the shirts Josh had left in her hotel room, over her shoulders to sleep in._

“ _Wake me for what?”_

“ _Well, that answers my question,” her mother said with a shake of her head and reassuring smile. “You get some sleep, and let us know if you need anything. The doctor will be here first thing in the morning.”_

“ _Okay,” her mother reached for the phone Jen had clutched in her hand. “Mom! I need this!”_

_Her mother stared at the smartphone’s screen with a curious expression on her face. “You need to see who Josh showed up at the after party with?”_

“ _No,” Jennifer pouted, feeling like a teenager that got caught sneaking out of the house. “I just wanted to see what was happening at the Weinstein party. Josh just happened to be the one that came up on screen.”_

“ _You didn’t tell me he was seeing that Selena Gomez,” her mother looked over the screen._

“ _I didn’t know,” Jennifer grumbled under her breath, trying her best not to feel betrayed by the latest photos. “You know as well as I do that those things are crap half the time,” Jennifer found the pictures of Josh and his band of Disney sluts, stirring up an enormous amount of jealousy. “I’m going to bed.”_

“ _Good,” her mother pressed a kiss against her forehead. “You have a fever.”_

“ _I’m fine.” Jennifer was sure the difference in her body temperature was caused by the burning rage flowing through her body, and not the cold she felt coming on. “G’night.”_

“ _Goodnight, sweetheart,” her mother shut the door behind her. “Did you need anything before you go to sleep?”_

“ _No,” Jennifer punched at the pillow to soften it up, and yanked the blankets up just past her nose. “Little fucker,” she mumbled to herself. “Fucking Selena Gomez.” She tried her best to sleep, found her throat dry, and her mind wandering, and decided to get up for a glass of water._

“ _…I’ll tell her. Okay, dear. All right,” her mother was talking to someone. “Nice talking to you again, Josh. Bye.”_

“ _Josh!?” Jennifer hurried towards her mother in hopes of getting the phone before she hung up. “That was Josh? Why didn’t you get me?”_

“ _You were sleeping.” Her mother sat the phone on the edge of the coffee table. “Did you need something dear?”_

“ _Yes,” she snatched up her phone. “My cell. God, mom. You could have-” her sentence was interrupted by a series of coughs._

“ _You need to go back to bed, and you don’t need that cell,” her mother grabbed for it, but Jennifer held it out of reach. “Jennifer Shrader Lawrence, quit acting like a three year old and give me that thing.”_

“ _No,” she **was** acting like a three year old, but she didn’t care. “Mom, I just need to make one call. Just one.” She started coughing again._

“ _You can barely get a sentence out without having a coughing fit.” Her mother said with a stiff upper lip._

“ _Five minutes, mom. I swear.” Jennifer didn’t wait for her mom’s response, she just took off to her room, locked the door behind her and hit the dial button. She listened as a generic message played and a beep sounded, forgoing the decision to leave a voice mail. “You were just-” her entire face squished together. “Damn it, Josh,” she dialed again and got his voice mail. “You…ugh.” Her fingers flew over the keypad, **“Selena Fucking Gomez!? Are you serious!?”** She tossed the phone onto the bed, and curled up under the covers in hopes that the phone would ring before she passed out from sheer exhaustion. Her eyes flew open when her phone began to vibrate against the mattress, and her body shot up. “Josh?” She answered it, not bothering to check the caller ID._

“ _I told myself an hour ago that I was going to stop texting you. I thought, if her mom has the phone, and sees these things, she’s going to think I’m stalking her,” the sound of Josh’s voice caused a warm sensation to run through her. “I told myself, don’t call again. Her mom said she was sick, but then I realized, I made a promise to take care of you when you were sick. So open up the door, and let me in, Jen.”_

“ _You’re here?” She heard a strange noise at the glass doors that led out to a patio in her backyard. “Oh my God.” Flinging the curtains open she found Josh standing outside with his phone to his ear. “You’re here,” she whispered into the phone before opening up the door to him._

“ _I heard you were sick, so I brought you something,” he lifted up a brown bag and gave it a shake. “Close that door. You’ll freeze to death.” Setting the bag down on her nightstand, he pulled out a container of soup and a disposable spoon. “I went to that place you like with the soup.”_

“ _You did?” She could hear the whine in her voice, and hated herself for it. She was pissed at him, and backed away when he reached out to pull her in for a hug. “I’m not very happy with you right now.”_

“ _Don’t tell me you actually fell for that shit about me and Selena?” He let out a laugh and tossed his baseball cap onto a chair. “You, of all people, are going to believe the shit that’s posted about me?”_

_Her arms were crossed over her chest. “Well…” she looked to the side, “…I don’t know. You were surrounded by all of those…slut bags, and you looked pretty fucking chummy with them. With…Selena,” she growled._

“ _Wow. Oookay,” he sat on the edge of the bed and took off his shoes. “You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”_

“ _What are you doing? Don’t take your shoes off. I didn’t give you permission to stay here.” Her spine stiffened. “My parents are sleeping in the spare bedroom, Josh.”_

“ _I’m aware of that. I was standing outside for fifteen minutes before I saw their light shut off.” He unzipped his pants and dropped them to the ground, then peeled off his jacket and button down tossing them to the side. “Come on,” he lifted the bedding up and crawled under them. “You can eat your soup, which is probably cold by now, and I’ll tell you why I was at that party with the…slut bags.”_

“ _I’m not cuddling with you,” she sat on the edge of the mattress and ate the soup, which was barely lukewarm, but still tasted amazing. “And you’re leaving as soon as I’m done with this.” She lifted her hand to cover her mouth and coughed._

“ _Jesus, Jen,” he ran a hand up the center of her back. “You sound like shit.”_

“ _I feel like shit,” it took everything she had not to fall back against his comforting touch. “So why were you with the flock of bitches?”_

“ _Flock of bitches? Considering you don’t really know any of them, that’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” She threw him a deadly glare. “Fine. You can call them whatever you want, but you should be thankful for Selena. She was the one that helped to keep Vanessa off of me tonight.”_

“ _What?” She turned her entire body towards him, and set the soup down with a thwack. “She was hitting on you again, wasn’t she? That little bit-” Jen could barely control her coughing fit._

“ _Okay, that’s it,” he pulled her down next to him. “Shut the hell up, and let me talk. I can’t take listening to you cough anymore.”_

“ _I took some NyQuil but it didn’t do a damn thing.”_

“ _That thing is mostly alcohol. You probably would have gotten more relief from a shot of brandy.” Josh spooned himself around her. “If you can keep your mouth closed for a few minutes, I’ll explain everything, okay?”_

_She pressed her head into the pillow and gave him better access to her neck when he placed his lips against it.“Go ahead. I’m shutting up.”_

“ _Thank you,” he pulled her a little closer. “I went with all of them tonight because I didn’t want to bring one girl and have the tabloids assume I was dating someone. I figured, if I was seen with a group of three girls they couldn’t make anything out of it. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so well. Vanessa got drunk within the first hour we were there, and tried to pull me into a corner, but Selena stepped in and asked me to dance. You’re going to hear about her and I on the dance floor all night, by the way.”_

“ _Hmmph,” she let out a little rumble of displeasure._

“ _Anyway, we were dancing, when I commented on Vanessa being drunk, and I said something like, I wish she would stop trying to get me alone. That’s when Selena offered to be my buffer for the night. Hell, she even ushered Vanessa to the bathroom so I could escape the damn party.” She reveled in the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, and the tenderness of his loving words fluttering against her ear. “I called you because I didn’t know where you were. I thought you were going to be there tonight, and that we could sneak away, but then your mom said you were sick.” His lips pressed up against the side of her head. “All I could think about was getting to you.”_

“ _Why didn’t you answer my texts?”_

“ _I did. I sent about a dozen of them.”_

_She reached out and grabbed her phone from the nightstand and saw twenty-six missed text messages from him. “Twenty-six,” she dropped her phone, rolled over and squeezed him instantaneously forgiving him. “I thought maybe you had found someone you actually liked, and didn’t know how to tell me.” The mere thought of it caused a sharp pain in her chest._

“ _Hey,” he pulled slightly away so he could look in her eyes, “there’s no one else. There won’t be anyone else unless you end it with me. Understand?”_

_Every time she was sick, her emotions seemed to go out of control. She would cry at the drop of a hat, yell at people for no reason, or want to go back home to Kentucky so her mother could baby her. Now, all she wanted, was for Josh to take care of her. “What are we going to do?”_

“ _About what? Us?” She nodded in answer to his questions. “I was thinking about that tonight, and I came to the conclusion that we need to stop hiding. I’m crazy about you, Jen. I know we said we wouldn’t tell anyone, but maybe…after the awards season is over, you and I could soft of…make it official?”_

“ _I think I like that idea,” she spoke quietly against his chin, and found that she didn’t want to wait for the awards season to be over._

“ _After the Academy Awards we’ll stop hiding, okay?”_

“ _Okay,” she agreed on the end of a soft sigh. “I missed you tonight.”_

“ _I missed you too,” he placed a kiss against her lips, but she pulled back._

“ _Josh, you’re going to get sick.”_

“ _It’s too late now. I’ve already caught your germs.”_

_Her eyes drifted closed as he brushed his lips against hers. “You won, Jen,” he whispered against her lips. “I was so proud of you tonight.”_

_Thoughts of winning awards didn’t really matter much to her right then.“Will you stay the whole night?” She didn’t want to let him go._

“ _What will we tell your parents when they find me here tomorrow morning?”_

“ _They sleep late when they’re here,” Jen answered._

“ _Not tomorrow. The Oscar nominations are coming out.”_

_Now she knew why her mom asked if she wanted to wake up in the morning. “I’ll set my alarm and you can go hide in the bathroom during the Oscar noms.” She tucked her head beneath his chin, and dug her fingers into his back. “Maybe that’s my good luck charm. You hiding in the bathroom while nominations are announced. It worked for the Globes.”_

“ _I can sneak out through the door again,” he seemed to be thinking on the same wavelength as her._

“ _So you’ll stay?”_

“ _Not that I want to get all Peeta on you, but…always, Jen. Always.”_

“Here, take this,” Liz handed her a ticket and boarding pass.

“Liz, this says Kentucky,” Jen gave her a strange look.

“I know. Since you had the weekend off, I thought you might enjoy a quick trip home before the awards show Sunday.” Liz handed Jen her bag. “I’ve arranged for a car to pick you up, and I booked a hotel suite for you. Your parents will meet you there.”

“Why can’t I stay at my parent’s place? Don’t tell me. They finally disowned me.” Jen laughed.

“We thought it would be easier this way in case the paparazzi got wind of you showing up. You don’t want your parent’s house to be stalked, do you?”

“No,” Jen’s entire life seemed to be revolving around the press, and the laughter that had been there only seconds ago, was gone. “Thanks. Guess I’ll see you back in LA.”

“See you,” Liz gave her a very odd smile, and a wave of her hand.

…..

…..

…..

…..

….

“Why does this say, Kentucky?” Josh gave his publicist a concerned look, and wondered if the woman was feeling all right.

“When they said you’d be done shooting by last night, I thought you might enjoy a trip home to see your family.” She wrapped her hand around his and gave the ticket a squeeze in order to accentuate her point. “You need to go home, Josh. Get away from all of this bullshit, even if it is just for a day.”

The thought sounded absolutely perfect. If he hadn’t made plans to go to Montreal to talk to Jennifer, he probably would have stayed at home for his entire two week break. “Thanks, Ang. This is exactly what I needed.”

“That’s why you pay me the big bucks, Hutch.” He hated it when she called him that, but it was done in jest, so Josh laughed it off. “Listen, the press is getting a little out of hand out there, so I booked you a hotel suite. Your family will meet you there.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Good, now go before you miss your damn flight,” she rushed him off.

“ _…so fucking over!”_

Josh gripped the center of his chest, and bolted upright, gasping from the dream…the nightmare that had replayed the worst moment of his life when he dozed off.

“Mr. Hutcherson, did you need something?” One of the first class flight attendants asked.

“No. I’m fine.” Josh lifted the shade blocking out the light from his window seat and stared down into the billowy cloud formations below trying to conjure up happy childhood memories, and getting nowhere fast. With his elbow resting on the arm of the seat, he ran his hand over his eyes, and rubbed. The pain behind them had him squinting as the light filtered through the airplane’s tiny window. Slamming it closed, he rested his head back, and closed his eyes telling himself not to dream about her. To stop thinking about Jennifer, but his pathetic attempts at a warning had him drifting back to her.

“ _Josh, wake up,” Jennifer shook his shoulder. “We slept through the alarm.”_

“ _Shit,” he spoke in a low tone of voice so no one would hear him, looked towards the bedroom door, and asked about her parents, “They don’t know I’m here, do they?”_

“ _Not yet, but if you don’t hide, they’re going to find out.”_

“ _Maybe I should just go, Jen,” he hopped out of bed and pulled his pants back on. “What am I going to do when you get nominated? How am I going to explain why I’m here?”_

“ _You’re assuming I’m actually going to **get** nominated.”_

“ _No,” he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his shoes on, “I’m assuming you’re going to win it **after** you get nominated.” He packed up the soup, and shoved the spoon in the bag. “Where’s my shirt?” His eyes peeled around the room. “I set it-” he found it lying on the floor. “I should go.”_

“ _No,” she reached out for him and checked the time on her phone simutaneously. “Go in the bathroom, and hide.”_

_Setting the bag of trash back down on the nightstand, he ran his hands over the sides of her cheeks and quickly felt himself panicking. “Jesus. You’re burning up.”_

“ _It’s your fault,” she pecked him on the lips. “You get me all hot and bothered.”_

“ _Yeah, that’s what it is,” he pressed his lips against her forehead. “You need a doctor.”_

“ _There’s one coming this morning.”_

“ _Good.” He felt a slight modicum of relief._

“ _Jen?” The knock on her bedroom door had him jumping away from her._

_He knew her parents wouldn’t have woken her up this early in the morning if she hadn’t gotten the nom. “I told you,” he moved back in and gave her a soft kiss. “You’re going to win this thing, Jen,” he said quietly against her cheek before sneaking into the bathroom, and making a call._

“ _This is Liz,” Jennifer’s publicist answered._

“ _Liz. Hey, it’s Josh Hutcherson,” his whisper was barely audible._

“ _Josh? Is everything okay with Jennifer?”_

“ _No. She’s sick. I mean…like really sick. Burning up with a fever…coughing. It’s bad.”_

“ _I know, Josh. We’ve got the best doctor in the state going there this morning.”_

_Josh rolled his eyes at her use of the words, ‘best doctor.’ Hollywood was known for always getting the ‘best,’ but in this instance, he hoped to God it was true. “Liz, she can’t keep going like this. She’s going to run herself into the ground. She **has** run herself into the ground.”_

“ _Does she know you’re calling me?” Liz asked._

“ _Would I be whispering if she did?” Josh honestly didn’t know why he called Jennifer’s publicist except that she was the woman controlling all of Jen’s appearances, and then he remembered what his mother used to make him take when he was a kid. “Echinacea,” Josh said his thoughts out loud._

“ _You want me to get her some echinacea?”_

“ _Yeah, and some of those zinc lozenges.”_

“ _Okay, Josh,” he could have sworn he heard a hint of laughter in her voice. “I’m on my way over there right now, so I’ll make sure I bring it with me. Anything else?”_

“ _You’re on your way here? Now?” He had to get out of there before Liz showed up and Jennifer’s residency turned into a madhouse._

“ _Yup. I’m meeting the doctor there in about an hour.”_

“ _Okay.” He was thrilled the physician would be there shortly, but worried he’d be caught and everyone would find out about them. “Hey, thanks a lot.”_

“ _Anytime. I love her too, Josh,” Liz said before disconnecting the call._

“ _Shit,” he stared at his cell in disbelief. “She knows?” His eyes flashed to the doorknob in a panic, then he breathed out a sigh of relief. “Is it safe to come out?” He asked Jen, who looked like she was about to fall flat on her face._

“ _Yeah.” She let out a small cough, and hugged herself. “I told them I was going back to sleep.”_

“ _That’s actually a good idea,” he was determined to leave. “I’m going to go, but you get back in bed-”_

“ _No,” she stopped him mid sentence. “Don’t leave. Not yet.” She crawled back under the covers, and lifted them up for him. “Just a little while longer.”_

_He thought about Liz and the doctor showing up, and figured he probably had about thirty more minutes before he had to hightail it out of there. “Okay, but only a little while.” He kicked his shoes off, and left his hat on the nightstand before crawling under the covers with her. “Go to sleep, Jen.”_

“ _I will,” she said as she buried her face into his neck. She lay, silently stroking at the spot where his jaw hinged for several minutes. Her raspy voice spoke in a hushed tone, “I’d give anything for you to make love to me right now.”_

“ _What?” He pulled away from her, and studied her expression. “Say that again.”_

“ _I’d give anything for you to make love to me right now,” her hand stroked his cheek one last time before she closed her eyes and fell asleep. It wasn’t that her desire for sex came as a surprise to him. It was the fact that she chose to use the words, ‘make love.’_

_Never in his life did he feel like he had holding her in his arms. “Jen? You asleep?” Her lack of response told him she was out cold. Being there for her in her time of need, and for some of the most monumental events of her life, left him with a mixture of feelings somewhere between gratitude and agony. He was grateful that she was willing to give them a real shot after awards season was over, yet going through his own form of personal hell not being able to express his feelings for her. His stomach clenched, as he pressed his lips against her forehead. “I love you, Jen,” he spoke to her sleeping figure. “I love you,” then slipped his arms from around her, and left the same way he had entered the night before._

“At this time we are asking for all forms of electrical devices to be shut off…” Josh turned towards the flight attendant only a few feet away from him, and quickly checked his cell. He hadn’t turned it on once the entire flight, nor did he unbuckle the seat belt he had been told to refasten. Lifting the shade to the window, one more time, he looked out over the place he always thought of as home, and studied the houses that reminded him of a scene out of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. The sound of the wheels hitting the tarmac was welcoming. So much so, that he didn’t mind when a fan grabbed hold of him for a picture. He could see the sign with his name on it being held up by a driver, and headed straight for it. The smell of sweet Kentucky air was cleansing to his soul. Angie had been right. He needed to come home and get away from it all. Here, he could clear his thoughts. He wasn’t being followed around by a flock of photographers all the time. Sure there was the occasional picture with a fan, but it was nothing like it had been in LA, or even Panama. As the driver held the door to the waiting vehicle open, Josh turned his head towards the blue sky. Now that he was back home he was sure he’d be able to make it through the rest of the weekend without losing his sanity to heartbreak. Come Monday morning, that would be another story entirely.

…..

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….

“Oh my God,” Jennifer could hear the sound of a young girl whispering, and knew she had been recognized regardless of the large sunglasses, and cap she was wearing. “That’s Jennifer Lawrence.”

She had almost turned towards the girl and said, “Where?” But even cracking jokes with fans seemed to be an invitation for yet another person to invade her privacy. Instead she buckled up her seat belt, turned off her cell, and closed her eyes. She berated herself for not being able to find her sense of humor, but the more awards she garnered for Silver Linings Playbook, the more difficult it was for her to remain the same easy going individual she had always been. There was only one person that could bring that lively side of her personality out in her, and he was nowhere near.

_Jennifer waited until Josh shut bathroom door behind him, then welcomed her parents into her bedroom._

“ _You did it, honey,” her mother’s arms were wrapped around her, and her father’s around them both. “And not just you…Bradley…Robert…David…” her mother listed every nomination they had been given._

_At this point Jennifer could care less about her own nomination. She was flabbergasted by the outpouring of respect the Academy had shown their film. “The whole cast?”_

“ _Yes,” her mom said with excitement in her voice, then pulled sharply away from Jennifer. “You’re burning up.”_

“ _That’s the second time I’ve heard that this morning,” Jennifer thought to herself._

“ _Did someone else take your temperature?” Her mother asked, and Jennifer realized that she had accidentally spoken her thoughts aloud._

“ _No. Didn’t dad say that to me already?”_

“ _No,” her parents answered in unison._

“ _I must be sicker than I thought.” Jennifer played it off. “I think I’m going to go back to sleep. I’m pretty tired.”_

“ _Do you want me to make you some tea?” Her mother offered._

_Jennifer declined, and wished Josh would make her a cup of that chamomile tea he had given her once before. “I’m just going to go back to bed.” She gave her parents another hug. “Wake me when Liz gets here.” She closed the door, forgetting to lock it, and headed straight for Josh’s hiding spot._

“ _Is it safe to come out?” Josh asked after she walked through the door._

“ _Yeah.” She let out a small cough, and hugged herself. “I told them I was going back to sleep.”_

“ _That’s actually a good idea,” he walked towards the glass doors. “I’m going to go, but you get back in bed-”_

“ _No,” she interrupted him. She simply wasn’t ready for him to go. “Don’t leave. Not yet.” She crawled back under the covers, and lifted them up for him. “Just a little while longer.”_

“ _Okay, but only a little while.” She let herself be wrapped up in his arms. “Go to sleep, Jen.”_

“ _I will.” She lifted her fingers to that spot she loved along his jawline, and brushed them back and forth, memorizing the curves and sharp angles of his face. “I’d give anything for you to make love to me right now.”_

“ _What?” She could hear the surprise in his tone at her statement. If there was only a way she could tell him how much his being there meant to her. “Say that again.”_

_Her sleepy blue eyes held his surprised gaze, and she wondered if he knew. If he had any inclination as to how she felt about him. If she could tell him, she would have, but they said they were going to wait until after awards season, and once she told him she loved him, she knew she wouldn’t want to hide anymore. So with a caress of his cheek, and adoration in her heart, she poured out, “I’d give anything for you to make love to me right now.” As she closed her eyes, she felt his heart pounding against her chest. Fatigue had finally gotten the best of her. She didn’t even have the energy to answer Josh’s questions._

“ _Jen? You asleep?” Her breathing got shallower at the comforting touch of his lips against her forehead. “I love you, Jen.” Her heart stopped. “I love you.” Before she could gather up a straight thought, he had slipped away, and out the door._

“ _Josh?” She sat up and reached a hand out, but he was gone. “I love you too,” she collapsed back into the pillow and let her silent tears dry against her feverish skin. She lay that way until Liz opened up her bedroom door and said, “Hey, look who I found pulling into your driveway as I was pulling out.” Jen looked up and saw Josh running a hand over his hair, under his hat._

“ _Josh.”_

“ _Hey, Jen.” He glanced over his shoulders towards her parents who had filed in behind the doctor. “I just wanted to see how you were doing and congratulate you on winning…and…um…the nomination, and everything.”_

_Jennifer smiled softly up at his nervous expression. “Thanks.”_

“ _I should probably go,” he stepped backwards towards the door._

“ _But you just got here,” she sat up and started coughing again. “Stay a little while?”_

“ _Sure,” Josh gave her a timid nod of his head, and mouthed so no one could see him, “Always.”_

_Jennifer tried to fight with her mother over spending a little time with Josh, as well as the doctor. Even Liz was on her side, but everyone else, including Josh, thought he should go. “Do something,” Jennifer spoke to her publicist quietly under her breath._

“ _Josh,” Liz walked over to him placing a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you could do me a favor? The doctor is calling in a couple of prescriptions for Jen, and I was wondering if you could pick them up for me? It would be a big help.”_

“ _Sure,” he jutted out his chin in Jen’s direction. “Be right back, okay?”_

“ _‘kay,” she wanted to pull him back inside and demand a kiss goodbye, and thank Liz for thinking up an excuse for his return, but she had to keep her mouth closed. “My life sucks,” she groaned into her pillow._

“ _Says the girl that just won a Golden Globe and got nominated for an Oscar,” her father laughed. “You’re life is so terrible, huh, Nitro?” The use of her childhood nickname brought a smile to Jennifer’s face. “Why don’t you go back to bed, and the rest of us will leave you alone for a little while?”_

“ _I’ll sit with her,” Her mother crawled onto the covers next to Jen._

“ _I’m fine, mom.”_

“ _You will be soon enough, but right now you’re sick.” Her mother coddled her until she fell asleep, and Jennifer didn’t see Josh again that day, but he did send her a few texts telling her to get well, and at 11:00 pm each night, she’d reach for her cell, at the sound of his ringtone, and smile. She was certain she wouldn’t hear a thing from him while she was in London for the Bafta’s, and was in shock when her phone vibrated, and his voice said, “Mmmm, that’s nice,” at eleven o’clock London time._

“ _ **Goodnight, Jen. I miss you.”**_

_She held her phone against her heart, and said, “I miss you too.”_

“I’m telling you that’s her,” Jennifer could hear the sound of the young girl’s voice again and ignored it. She was in her own world right now, and had no desire to leave it.

“Excuse me, Miss. Lawrence?” The flight attendant bent towards her. “These young ladies were wondering if you would take a picture with them.”

“I’m trying to keep my trip home quiet,” Jennifer had no desire to take another picture.

“Say no more.” The flight attendant corralled the young girls back towards their seats in coach.

“ _Come on, Jen,” Zoe whined over the phone. “We haven’t seen you in like…forever.”_

“ _Zoe, things have been crazy here. I really don’t have time for lunch.” Jennifer wished she could escape for lunch with her friends._

“ _What are you doing today that’s so much more important than me? And don’t say another interview, because if you choose a reporter over me, I’m going to be toast pissed.”_

“ _Well,” Jennifer’s chuckled into the phone, “I hate to be the cause for you getting toast pissed.”_

“ _So you’ll meet us for lunch?” Zoe sounded excited._

“ _I really can’t. I’m trying on dresses this afternoon for…fuck me, I don’t even know what show I’m going to next.”_

“ _This is perfect!” Zoe exclaimed into the phone. “We’ll bring lunch and you can try on dresses. Even though I think you need to just moss, but I won’t get up in your shit about it.” Jennifer needed a dictionary at times when she talked to Zoe, and laughed at her phrase of words, which she was sure her friend was using intentionally in order to get Jennifer to laugh. “We’ll pick out something glam for you to wear so he can eat his own shit and drool.”_

_Jennifer’s eyes practically bugged out of her head at her friend’s words in fear that she had found out about her relationship with Josh. “Who?”_

“ _Nick.”_

“ _Oh,” Jennifer dragged the word out. “Nick.”_

“ _So me and my mains will be there at one,” she could hear Zoe’s anticipation._

“ _Okay, see you then,” Jennifer hung up the phone and quickly dialed Josh._

“ _Hey,” the sound of Driver’s barking echoed through the phone when Josh answered. “This is a nice surprise. I thought you were busy today.”_

“ _I am,” she ignored the knock on her bedroom door, and stepped into the bathroom. “Do you have plans today?”_

“ _Depends on what you have in mind. If you’re just calling because you need a piece of ass, then…no. I have no plans,” they both chuckled._

“ _What if it had nothing to do with that at all?” She couldn’t believe what she was about to ask him._

“ _Jen, I don’t care what the reason is. You need me to come over and clean out Chaz Bono’s litter box, I’m there.”_

“ _What if I wanted you to show up while I was trying on dresses?”_

“ _You want me to help you pick out clothes? I’m probably the last person you want doing that. I pretty much wear the hell out of an outfit until it’s worn down to the threads.”_

“ _Yeah, I know,” she giggled. “I’m going to get that damn red plaid shirt and burn it if it kills me.”_

“ _I love my plaid shirt. Which one again? The red one?” She laughed at him. “Yeah, I love that shirt. In fact, I’m wearing it right now. So tell me, Miss. Lawrence, what are you wearing? Something sexy? Going commando?”_

“ _Is this Josh or did I call 1-800-Fuck-you?”_

“ _Both. The acting thing hasn’t been panning out too well lately,” the rumble of Josh’s laughter actually had her joining in._

“ _Please come over today. I know we won’t be alone, but…” she let out a sigh, “…I need you.”_

“ _What time?” He said without pause._

“ _One?” She could barely contain the fluttering in her stomach._

“ _I’ll be there. You said we weren’t going to be alone, are your parents going to be there too?”_

“ _Nope,” she sat on the bathroom counter. “It’s just me and my mains,” she giggled at the use of Zoe’s word. “See you later?”_

“ _One o’clock sharp,” he confirmed._

“…to drink?” The flight attendant was back.

“Pardon me?” Jennifer looked to her.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Oh, no thank you,” she waved the offer away. “I’m good.” She scratched underneath the hat she had stolen from Josh one of the last times she saw him, then played with the buttons on a red plaid shirt that hung down over a tank. The feel of the material between her fingers caused her to yearn for the man she stole the shirt from.

…..

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…..

Josh met up with his family at the hotel, then joined them for dinner at one of his favorite establishments. It was great catching up with all of them. Finding out what his brother was up to, how his dad’s job was going, everything seemed like old times. With the exception of his waitress constantly gawking, and the rest of the staff walking by his table about a million times over, life felt almost normal again.

He picked up a package at the front desk, and went up to his room. He had asked his family if they wanted to stay, but they had insisted upon leaving. As Josh ripped open the padded envelope that had been sent to him, he kicked off his shoes, and opened one of the beers that had been stocked in his fridge for him. “Cool,” he yanked out the disc of his movie Epic. As far as he was concerned, his night was all planned out. A couple of beers and his movie. Searching through his bag for something comfortable to wear, he pulled out a fresh tee, and realized that the crisp, white garment didn’t belong to him. It belonged to someone else entirely.

_Josh was welcomed into Jennifer’s house, an hour late, by one of Liz’s assistants and told that Jennifer was in the living room, but when he entered, the only people he saw were Zoe and some of Jen’s other friends. “Hey,” Josh greeted them with a nod of his head. “She around?”_

“ _She is, but,” Zoe shook her head slowly from side to side, “she’s been in her room for fifteen minutes crying.”_

“ _She’s crying?” Josh was shocked to shit. “Why?”_

“ _Why do you think?” Zoe sipped at a frozen coffee drink. “That bastard dumps her then shows up at the Bafta’s with his newest costar hanging off his arm. Did you know he started seeing her like two weeks after he ended things with Jen?” Josh didn’t have to ask who Zoe was talking about, but he did want a confirmation that Jennifer was crying over Nick. “That rat bastard probably couldn’t wait to move onto some strange.”_

“ _You sure she’s crying over him? Maybe she’s not feeling well, or something else is bothering her?” Josh could only hope there was another reason for Jen to be upset._

“ _I know for a fact it’s Nick she’s crying over.” Zoe pulled him further away from the group. “When I went in there to see what was taking her so long she was sitting on the edge of her bed, crying her eyes out, and when I asked her what was wrong, she said, ‘I miss him.’ Now who the hell else could she be talking about?” Zoe’s protective stance made Josh glad Jennifer had such a good friend._

“ _I’m not sure,” but he prayed that it was him. “I’m going to go talk to her.”_

“ _Good luck. She’s not letting anyone in.”_

_Josh headed for the door, knocked on it and was taken aback by Jennifer’s abrupt response. “Leave me the fuck alone!”_

“ _Jen? It’s Josh.” He lightly knocked again. “Open up.”_

“ _You’re late,” she flung the door open. “It’s two o’clock.”_

“ _Traffic,” he pushed past her and closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it. “Zoe said you were crying.”_

“ _So what?” Jennifer wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand._

“ _She thinks you’re crying over Nick.” It took every ounce of courage he could muster up to face her and ask, “Is that true?”_

“ _No,” she threw her arms around his neck and started crying into his shoulder. “I couldn’t exactly tell her it was you I was crying over,” she pushed him away by his chest. “You’re fucking late.”_

“ _I told you, I hit traffic.” He took her hand in his and appreciated the dress she was in. “I like your dress. Makes your tits look edible,” he attempted to make her laugh, but she only stomped to the other end of the bedroom. “I’m sorry. It’s not like I could control whether or not there was a pile up on the fucking highway.”_

“ _I am so sick of this shit,” She yanked her hair away from her neck. “Unzip me.”_

_He followed her orders and trailed his hand down her bare back when the dress fell to the floor with a swish. “I’m sorry I was late,” he placed a kiss against her spine and felt her back stiffen. “I really am, Jen.”_

“ _I know.” The muscles in her back began to relax. “This is driving me nuts.” She turned to face him, her bare breasts jutting upwards at him. “Do you know those bastards chased me down while I was trying to buy a fucking coffee? Coffee!” She scooped up the dress and threw it onto her bed. “Like they need a fucking picture of me buying coffee with my friends?” Josh wasn’t sure who she was talking about until Jennifer made a comment about her picture being taken. “Every fucking thing I do, they’re all over my ass.”_

“ _Jen, it comes with the territory. You know that.” He tried to make her feel better, only achieving in making her yell._

“ _Fuck that! I’m an actress, not a fucking piece of meat!” She stormed across the room and swiped up her shirt, pulling it violently over her head. “I hate those bastards. I really do,” she said with contempt dripping from her voice._

“ _We all do, but that’s part of our job, Jen. I’m not saying being stalked is, but we all know that can happen with fame.”_

“ _Don’t say that fucking word!” She plopped down on the edge of her bed, and the hostility in her voice left. “I hate that word. I hate it,” her voice cracked as Josh sat next to her, and scooped her up into his arms. “You weren’t here. You were supposed to be here at one,” she sounded like she was crying again._

“ _Did I ever tell you Robin Williams’ theory on hate?” He tried to find some way of putting her mind at ease._

“ _No,” she whined into his neck._

“ _I was being tutored on set, and every time they made me stop working so I could go to class, I complained. Robin came up to me one day and asked me why I was so angry about getting an education and I told him, it has nothing to do with learning. I actually liked learning things, but I hated school because it took me away from what I really loved. Acting.” He brushed her hair off of her shoulder and turned his face into hers. “And he said to me, ‘If you hate it, it’ll last longer.’ I had no clue what he was talking about until one day… I actually had fun with my tutor, and before I knew it, my lessons were over. That’s when I got it. If you hate something, time seems to stand still, but when you love something, it flies by.” Jennifer pulled up to look at him. “So you see, Jen? If you let all of this fester inside of you, and you hate it…it’ll never be over. Time will just keep dragging on, and you’ll get more and more bitter.”_

“ _You think I’m bitter?” She brushed her nose against his chin. “I thought you said I was sweet.”_

“ _I said you **tasted** sweet,” he chuckled against her forehead. “You? You’re a total bitch.”_

“ _I have been lately,” she pressed her lips against first one cheek and then the other. “I’ve been a horrible bitch to everyone.”_

“ _You haven’t been a bitch to me,” he kissed her against the tip of her nose. “You’ve been pretty normal with me. Your usual, sarcastic self.”_

“ _Is that why I yelled at you for getting caught in traffic?” She flung her leg over his lap, straddling him, and rested her hands on his shoulders. “Tell me this will be over soon. That all of this is going to come to an end.”_

“ _It will, Jen. I swear it.” He lay back against the bed and took her with him. “And when it is, you and I will never have to hide this again. You won’t have to miss me, because we’ll always be together.”_

“ _My cat is going to hate your dog,” she peeled her shirt off and presented him with her voluptuous breasts. “And what the hell are we supposed to do with Andre lurking about your house all the time?”_

“ _We’ll figure it out,” he cupped her weighty bosom in the palm of his hand, and brought it to his lips. “My question is,” he moved to the other breast, “how are we going to explain the banging of the headboard against the wall to Zoe and the rest of your friends?”_

_Her eyes darted towards the bathroom. “Toilet seat sex?”_

_Josh let out a rumble of laughter. “God that’s sexy. Say toilet again.” They both started chuckling. “Next time I come over, maybe we can try something really erotic and go for trash can sex.”Jennifer stood up and led him towards the restroom._

“ _Jen?” Zoe’s voice called through the door. “You two okay?”_

“ _Leave me alone!” It amazed Josh how Jennifer could instantly sound like she was in tears._

“ _Okay,” Zoe said through he door. “We’ll be out here if you need us.”_

“ _Don’t worry, Zoe,” Josh said so only Jen could hear. “I’m going to give her everything she needs.”_

“ _And then some,” Jen locked the bathroom door behind them. “Josh? Do you have plans on the fourth?”_

“ _I’m going to be out of town. Why?” He lifted her up and sat her on the counter._

“ _Nothing,” she slid his shirt over his shoulders and said, “I’m keeping this ugly thing.”_

“ _I haven’t worn it down to the threads yet,” he said of the red plaid shirt he had to search for so he could wear it that day and drive her crazy. “Tell you what. Let’s make a trade. I’ll keep the tight white t-shirt you like to wear around me with no bra, and you can keep this shirt.”_

“ _I want the hat too,” she pulled it off of his head and put it on her own._

“ _Jen, you can have anything you want from me.”_

Josh leaned over and reached for his phone. He sent out a tweet telling people that he had seen his newest movie, Epic, and what he thought of it. As he dropped the phone on the seat cushion next to him, he heard the lock on the door to his suite make a clicking sound. His eyes flew open. His throat went dry, and his heart threatened to explode. “Jen?”

“Josh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr I'm jamiesommers23 or follow my joshiferrecs blog to read a variety of Joshifer stories by different authors.   
> Thanks for reading. ~J


	6. Intimate Strangers: Part Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this final chapter you will see what Josh and Jen have ultimately decided for their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an epilogue at the end of this chapter.

**Intimate Strangers: Part Six**

“Jen?”

“Josh?” Jennifer glanced down at her key card then checked to make sure the room numbers matched up. “What…what are you doing in my room?”

“This is _my_ room,” Josh’s eyes slightly narrowed at her in question.

The air became dense, as the tension instantly grew between the pair of lost souls. Jennifer stood in the open doorway, while Josh stared at her from his spot on the sofa. Neither one able to move. Neither one sure of what to say.

“Let me…” he got to his feet.

“I should…” Jennifer spoke at the same time as Josh.

“Sorry. Go ah…”

“You were say…” They spoke over one another yet again.

A tiny ripple of nervous laughter came from the two as the sound of people in the hallway filtered towards the hotel room.

“Come in,” Josh went to her and took the small overnight bag from her shoulder with an unsteady hand.

“I should-” she turned her head and noticed the group of people in the hall getting closer, and pointing at her as though they knew who she was. Jennifer stepped inside, allowing Josh to close the door behind her. “If I could just use the phone to call the front desk.”

“Sure,” he gestured towards the one on an end table next to the sofa. “What are you…I mean…I thought you were…weren’t you in-”

“Montreal,” she finished for him. “I thought you were shooting in Panama.” Jennifer had no idea why she didn’t stumble over her own words like Josh was doing so expertly.

“I…uh…was, but then-” he placed her bag down on the floor and she couldn’t help but notice the shaky breath he blew out. “Angie, she uh-”

Jennifer nodded in understating as her hand reached for the phone. “Liz thought I should come home for a little while.”

“Oh. Um…well, I guess…maybe,” Josh closed his eyes, gave his head a shake then said, clear as day, “You should call the front desk.”

She didn’t want to call the front desk. She wanted to stay and talk to him. To work things out, but the courage she had worked up on the flight, to talk to him, faded into thin air the second she saw his face. “Hi,” she spoke into the handset when someone answered. “I’m in room 1326 and I think there may have been a mix up. Someone is already in this room.”

“One moment please,” Jennifer was put on hold. She turned her back to Josh, because facing him tied her stomach into knots, and tapped at the base of the handset. “May I have your name please?” The person at the front desk asked.

“Jenni…I mean Flinstone,” Jennifer gave them her alias.

“Yes, I have it right here. That room was reserved for Brooks and Flinstone until Monday morning.”

“Brooks and Flinstone? Who the hell is Brooks?” Jennifer was more than confused at the receptionist’s reveal.

“Jen?” Josh said from behind her. “I’m Brooks.”

Her whole body whipped around as her eyes zipped towards Josh. “Brooks?”

“Herb Brooks,” he answered sheepishly while running a hand down the back of his head.

The phone Jennifer had been holding slipped from her fingers and onto the table in a loud whack. “Shit!” She picked up the handset and spoke into it, “I’ll call back.” She had to figure out what was going on. Had Josh somehow arranged to be here with her? Had he known about her trip back home? She told herself, no. He had seemed just as surprised to see her there as she was to see him. “Brooks,” she could feel her insides quaking. “As in the character Kurt Russell played from-”

“Miracle,” Josh spoke for her. “Jen,” he gave his head a little shake, “I think Angie and Liz may have set us up.”

It was all making sense now. “That’s why Liz didn’t give me my flight information until right before I boarded.” With unsteady legs, she dropped down to the seat cushion behind her.

“Probably,” he took a seat on an overstuffed chair to her right. “Angie didn’t give me my info until the last minute too.”

“So you didn’t know I was going to be here?” Jennifer asked…hoped that he would say he did know. That he had planned this and not their publicists.

“I had no clue,” Josh shook his head. “I should have known something was up though. Angie said the press was getting bad out here, but I’ve never had a problem with that before.”

“Liz said the same thing to me,” but Jennifer had been so lost in her own world lately that most of the things Liz said to her went in one ear and out the other.

They sat nonspeaking for a few minutes, staring at inanimate objects on the coffee table before Josh asked, “Notting Hill?” breaking their silence.

“Huh?” Jennifer couldn’t seem to get a hold of her wildly racing thoughts.

“The name, Flinstone. Isn’t that what Julia Roberts used in Notting Hill?”

Jennifer nodded her head absently, trying not to break down over how well he knew her little idiosyncrasies. “I love that movie.”

“I know,” she had made him watch it with her at least five times since they met, and he never complained.

“Josh?” She wasn’t sure whether or not to be furious or grateful for Liz and Angie’s underhandedness. Quickly deciding to take advantage of the situation, Jennifer took a deep breath and said, “We need to talk,” then instantaneously regretted her choice of words when the memory of saying that very same thing to him flashed through her mind.

“ _I’m exhausted,” Jennifer kicked her shoes off and collapsed on the sofa. “Tell me I’m free for the rest of the night,” she rolled her head towards Liz who had an expression of pity on her face._

“ _Sorry, Jen. You’ve got some dress fittings in two hours, but you’re free from now until then.”_

“ _Oooh, two whole fucking hours.” Jennifer grabbed her hair in her hands and twisted it into a knot, holding it together with a scrunchy that had been left on her coffee table. “This shit has to end. I can’t take much more of it.” She let out a small cough, and felt the tightness in her chest that had yet to go away since being diagnosed with pneumonia. “I need a break.”_

“ _Mmmm, that’s nice,” her phone vibrated in her pocket, and her first genuine smile of the day, blossomed across her face._

“ _ **Hey beautiful. You busy?”**_ _Josh’s text had her heart skipping a beat._

_Opting to call in her response to him in lieu of texting, she pushed the green call button and anxiously awaited his greeting._

“ _Hello? Jen?” Josh sounded surprised to hear from her. The sound of his voice brought a sense of calm to her that she had been lacking as of late._

“ _Hi.”_

“ _I’m going to go,” Liz said quietly. “I’ll be back before your fitting.”_

_Jen lifted her hand in farewell to her publicist, and continued her conversation with Josh. “What are you doing?”_

“ _Walking Driver. What are you doing?” He asked._

“ _I have two hours to myself.”_

“ _Wow. Two whole hours? What_ _ **will**_ _you do with such an enormous break in your schedule?” He chuckled._

“ _I could do you if you came over,” she giggled into the phone. “I’d go there, but I have a fitting in two hours and if I’m late for it, Liz will shit a ring around herself.” Jen began to rub at one of the arches on her aching feet._

“ _As tempting as that offer sounds, traffic is a bitch this time of day. By the time I got there your stylist would be there, and I’d be left sitting on a couch pretending to care about what you were wearing, when we both know, all I’d be thinking about is what was underneath those dresses,” he let out another small chuckle._

“ _Yeah,” she said as her spirit deflated, “I guess.” Her mind began searching for the last time she had seen him. “How was New Orleans?”_

“ _Fun, but lonely,” he answered. “How was the Oscar luncheon?” It was the event she had wanted to ask him to accompany her to on the fourth._

“ _It was okay. Bet New Orleans was better though,” she wished she could have gone with him and escaped the chaos that had consumed her life._

“ _It wasn’t all that great, Jen. I mean…it was fun playing in the Bowl, but it was hard to keep my mind on things.”_

“ _Why?” She held the phone between her ear and shoulder and began to pull her pants off, leaving them in a pile at her feet._

“ _You,” his answer had a hint of sorrow in it. “I kept thinking about you. About what you’ve been going through lately. All the cameras. The paparazzi. I’ve seen pictures of you, and…you never smile anymore, Jen.”_

_It was the same thing her family had said to her. “It’s hard to smile when you’ve only gotten about two hours of sleep.”_

“ _Then say, fuck the dress fitting and come to my place tonight. Andre is out of town, so we’ll have the place to ourselves. We can watch old movies and eat sushi and popcorn, a winning combination if I do say so myself, and afterward we’ll slide under the covers and you can sleep in my arms.”_

“ _That’s it? You’re going to make me eat some nasty fish wrapped up in seaweed, and all I get in return is sleep?”_

“ _I said popcorn too,” she could hear him smiling into the phone._

_She pulled the phone away from her ear for a second in order to remove her shirt, throwing it behind her, and went towards her bedroom. “Oh, well…that makes it so much more appealing.”_

“ _I knew I’d get ya with the popcorn.”_

“ _What would we watch?” She pulled the blankets down on her bed, and crawled under the covers, allowing fantasies of spending time with him to fill her mind._

“ _Anything you want.” The sound of Driver barking came through the phone. “We can do anything you want, Jen.”_

“ _God, I wish I could,” she sighed into the phone and closed her eyes._

“ _You can. All you have to do is call Liz and tell her to clear your schedule for the night.”_

“ _She’ll kill me,” Jennifer’s eyes were becoming weighed down with sleep. “I wish you were here,” her voice got softer._

“ _Me too,” his tone matched hers. “You sound so worn out, Jen. So tired.”_

“ _I am.” she struggled to open her eyes, but they felt like they were glued closed. “Josh, I have to get some rest.”_

“ _Okay,” she could hear the sadness in his voice, and hated herself for being the cause of it. “You go to sleep for a little while.”_

“ _I’m sorry I can’t come over tonight.” The idea of spending time with him sounded so wonderful. “Soon though. I promise.”_

“ _One more week and then you’ll never get rid of me.”_

“ _One more week,” she could feel her entire body relaxing at the thought of never having to hide her feelings for him again._

“ _Get some sleep, Jen.” He paused. “I’ll be thinking of you.”_

“ _I miss you,” she said quietly before everything went dark, and sleep took over._

“ _Jen?” She could feel someone shaking her shoulder. “Jen? Wake up.” Jennifer opened her eyes and saw Liz standing over her. “Hey, your stylist is going to be here in thirty minutes. You should hop in the shower.”_

“ _Stylist?” It took a moment for Jennifer to get her bearings together. “I’m trying on dresses for the interview with Caesar Flickerman,” she said out loud to herself._

“ _Caesar Flickerman?” Liz stood over her with a hand on her hip. “You know what. No. No, you’re not trying on anything. You look like shit,” Liz pulled out her phone and began punching buttons. “Go back to sleep. You’re off tonight.”_

“ _But the dresses,” Jennifer let her head rest back on the pillow. The realization of what she had said to Liz sunk in. “Fuck the dresses. I’ll wear sweats.”_

_A few minutes later Liz tucked the covers over Jennifer’s shoulders and said, “You’re free until noon tomorrow. Get some sleep.” Jennifer could have kissed the woman until she turned back around and asked, “Jen, when you talked to Josh earlier, did he mention the interview he gave?”_

_Jennifer rolled over in bed and said, “No. Should he have?” It wasn’t out of the norm for both of them to give interviews and not tell the other. They rarely mentioned the public appearances they made when in each other’s company._

“ _Jen, I think you should see this.” Liz tapped a few buttons on her tablet and handed it to Jennifer. “Normally, I wouldn’t think anything of articles like this. They’re usually fabricated, but Josh was quoted from a TV interview he gave.”_

_Jennifer read over the quote Josh supposedly gave, shook her head as though she were clearing out the cobwebs, then read it again trying to process the words within the quotation marks. “This is a mistake. Josh would never make a comment about my personal life.”_

_Liz took the tablet from Jennifer’s grasp, and said, “I don’t think he said it out of animosity or anything, but I thought you should know.”_

_Jennifer nodded her head, and absently said, “Yeah,” forcing herself not to get riled up._

“ _See you tomorrow,” Liz left with a wave of her hand._

_Jennifer’s mind began going a mile a minute. Throwing the covers off of herself, she placed her feet on the floor and battled with herself over whether or not to call Josh. She tucked her feet into her house slippers, didn’t bother with the hair that was falling out of its knot, and yanked on some sweats. If she was going to talk to him she needed to do it face to face. She dialed Josh’s number and got his voice mail. “Hi,” she decided to leave a message for once. “I’ve got the night off. I’m coming over.” She hung up and headed for her car. It had been a long time since she actually drove herself anywhere, and the normalcy of being behind the wheel, was a welcomed feeling, but not enough to get the feelings of dread to dissipate._

_Upon pulling up to Josh’s house she took notice of the cars in his driveway. The sound of music boomed the closer she got to his front door. The white Christmas lights were on, as they were most nights, surrounding his porch. Josh called them, “mood lighting,” and Jennifer had to wonder who he was creating a mood for. She could see the girl with long dark hair, holding a red Solo cup, through the window above the sofa he had on his porch. The anger Jennifer had fought to subside became full on rage as she first, rang the doorbell, then quickly followed it up with her pounding fist._

“ _Oh my God! Jennifer!”_

“ _Mufasa,” Jennifer gave Vanessa a deadly glare then honed in on the man that was about to feel her wrath._

“ _Did you just call me, Mufasa?” Vanessa laughed at her._

“ _Sorry,” she glared. “I’ve got Lion King on my mind.”_

“ _Josh is over there,” Vanessa pointed through the small crowd of people. “Come on,” Jennifer wanted to rip her hand out of Vanessa’s and smack her with it. “Josh said you weren’t coming tonight. I asked. I’m just so excited,” Vanessa rambled on like they were the best of friends when in reality, Jen barely knew the girl. “I keep telling everyone that you’re going to win the Oscar. Josh,” Vanessa called out before pushing her way past a few of the Disney whores Jennifer hated with a passion, and a couple of guys she didn’t recognize. “Look who’s here.” Jennifer had to force herself not to break the arm Vanessa draped over Josh’s shoulder after dropping her hand. “We’re so glad you could come to our little soiree.”_

_Jennifer’s angry glare locked with Josh’s shock filled one. “Jen?”_

“ _Josh,” she spit his name out like it was poison. “We need to talk.”_

Jennifer’s innocent words about needing to talk sent a chill through Josh’s spine. “Talk?” Josh asked her with a trembling voice. “Uh…sure.” Isn’t that why he had wanted to go to Montreal? To talk to her? The only problem was, he thought he’d have the entire weekend to work on what to say to her. “We can talk,” he tried to look like he was at ease with the idea of having a conversation with her by taking up his, ‘interview’ position. One hand draped over the back of a chair, the other over his leg, as his foot rested on his bent knee. Jennifer had teased him a million times during the promotional tour for The Hunger Games about the pose he’d strike whenever someone was about to ask him questions. “What do you want to talk about?”

The eye roll Jen gave him told him not to be an idiot. “Do you really need me to spell it out?”

“No,” the hand that had been draped over the arm of the chair ran through his hair. His feet fell flat to the ground and made to stand. “You want a drink?” He walked towards the little fridge with beer. “I need a drink,” he said more to himself than her.

“ _Jen, what are you doing here?” Josh escaped from Vanessa’s arm hanging over his shoulders, taking Jennifer’s hand, pulling her away from the group he was talking to. “You said you were busy tonight.”_

“ _Apparently,” Jennifer pierced Vanessa, who was now hanging off another guy, with a deadly look,“so are you.”_

_Josh checked over both shoulders to make sure no one was listening to them, then offered, “Let me get you something to drink. You want a drink? I need a drink,” he started walking towards the bar, but Jennifer just let out a huffing noise and stormed towards his bedroom. “Shit,” Josh ran his hand over his head, and followed her into it, locking the door behind him. “Jen, I didn’t know you were coming here tonight.”_

“ _That’s obvious by the little…soiree,” she made air quotes with her fingers, “you and…that bitch are throwing for your Disney brats!” She pointed towards the closed door of his bedroom._

“ _First of all, Vanessa and I are not throwing_ _ **anything**_ _together. Christ, her boyfriend’s out there!” Josh stepped closer to Jennifer, hoping he could somehow calm her down._

“ _She has a boyfriend other than you? Goodness Josh, I didn’t know you were into sharing,” Jennifer said with a feigned shocked expression. “My mistake,” she put her hands over her chest, “I thought we had agreed not to fuck anyone else.”_

“ _Knock it off,” Josh could feel his blood beginning to boil. “Most of those people are Vanessa’s friends, not mine. I ran into her today, after you and I talked and mentioned that I hadn’t seen her new movie yet. She offered to come by and drop it off, I said yes, and when she showed up with a few friends and said, ‘we decided to bring some pizza and beer,’ what was I supposed to do? Tell them all to go away?”_

“ _Yes!” Jennifer threw her hands up in the air. “You should have told her, you don’t need her skanky ass hanging all over you, and made her leave. We had plans tonight!”_

“ _No!” He pointed at Jennifer’s face. “_ _ **You**_ _had plans! Not me!”_

“ _You could have…have…”  
_

“ _What?” He barked. “Sat on my ass and waited by the phone for you to call? Locked myself in my bedroom with the blankets over my head, and cried into my pillow because I miss you,” he said with a tight jaw. He bridged the gap between them and took her by the upper arms. “Because I miss you so damn much I can’t think. I can’t breathe,” he sounded as though he was winded. “Because I’m so fucking lonely when you’re not near, it’s all I can do to get out of bed and take a fucking shower!” He could see her tears start to form pools in her eyes as she looked away from him. He hadn’t intended on making her cry, but he needed to get his point across. “I was lonely, Jen,” his voice softened and his hands fell to his side. “I was lonely.”_

“ _I called,” her voice cracked as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand._

“ _I didn’t get it.” He patted at his pockets for his phone, but it wasn’t there. “Shit. Where’s it-” His eyes peered around the room, and he saw it sitting on his dresser. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were coming over.”_

“ _Doesn’t matter anymore,” she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand once again. “I’m leaving.”_

“ _No,” he jumped in her path and held her by the arms. “Don’t go,” he pressed a desperate kiss against her lips. “Please, don’t go.” His lips pressed hard against various spots on her face as she continually turned her head from side to side, avoiding his kiss._

“ _Stop it, Josh,” she pushed her hands against his chest. “I’m going home. I need to get some sleep.”_

“ _Then stay. We’ll do what I said earlier.” He knew he sounded like a pathetic, love sick fool, but he didn’t care. “I’ll tell them to go. I’ll make them all leave, Jen.”_

“ _No,” she gave her head a shake. “Your girlfriend would get pissed.”_

“ _My girlfriend?” Josh couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You mean, Vanessa?”_

“ _I sure as hell wasn’t talking about myself!” She pushed past him and headed for the door._

“ _Whoa! Wait one minute!” He stopped her with his voice. “_ _ **You’re**_ _pissed at_ _ **me**_ _? With the exception of today, every time you call, I rush to your side, but when you say you can’t come here, I don’t make a big deal out of it. I tell myself, she’s busy. She’s the most sought after actress in Hollywood, and I let it go.” His anger was growing. “For once, I had some friends over, and now_ _you’re_ _…pissed? Because I’m trying to have a life outside of you?”_

“ _Fuck you!” She turned on her heels and walked straight for him, poking her finger into his chest. “And fuck your stupid fucking Disney slut. I’m sorry,” she huffed out, “you probably did that already. I knew this would happen.” Josh watched her overly animated features go from disgust to anguish, “I told you in Hawaii you were going to-”_

_His lips shut her up when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “You’re jealous,” he couldn’t quite believe it himself, but it was the only thing that made sense. He didn’t let her get a word in, clasped the sides of her face, and kissed her again, ignoring the hands she tried to push him away with._

_She ripped her mouth away from his and whined out, “I am not jealous.”_

“ _Yes…yes you are,” Josh let her jealousy of his friends sink in. “Look at you. You’re pouting. You are actually pouting,” he pressed a kiss against her bottom lip. “Holy shit. You’re jealous of Vanessa.”_

“ _Fuck you,” she turned her face away, but Josh didn’t care, he pecked at her neck instead. “Stop kissing me. I’m pissed at you.”_

“ _Yes. You’re pissed,” he kissed his way over her throat, lingered at one of the beauty marks that enticed him whenever he got a glimpse of them, and nibbled his way towards her earlobe. “You’re mad at me because I made plans to hang out with friends and didn’t predict that you would unexpectedly show up at my doorstep.” He whispered in her ear. “You must hate me.”_

“ _I do,” she punched at his back with a false bravado. “I hate you.”_

“ _As you should. I’m such a terrible person. I had to fill my house with people and alcohol in order to free my mind of you.”_

_She clasped his cheeks in her hands and held her face a mere inch away from his. “Did it work?”_

“ _Not so much.” He dragged his lips across her cheek and pressed them against hers saying roughly, “I’ll never be free of you.”_

“ _Josh,” her fingers were digging into his back. Her face still full of rage. He would have released her if she hadn’t pressed her breasts against him, and licked her lips._

“ _Fuck,” he growled before pushing her up against the wall._

_Her fingers fumbled for the waistband of his pants as his shot up her shirt and squeezed her bare breast. “Jesus, hurry up,” her voice quivered._

_His hands swapped places with hers. He freed himself from his jeans, leaving them hanging at his hips, as she yanked her sweats and miniscule panties off in one swift move. His foot stepped on the clothing she left pooled at her feet while she kicked her slippers off, leaving her bare from the waist down, and his hands went straight for the smooth, round apples of her bottom, lifting her from the floor. Her legs wrapped around his waist as her mouth sought out his. Josh bent slightly at the knees before taking hold of himself in one hand and burying himself deep between her slick, velvet walls._

“ _Uuuh,” Jennifer’s throaty call was swallowed by Josh’s lips as he pummeled himself over and over again into her._

_Using the wall for leverage, he pressed her back against it while moving her up and down on his shaft by the cheeks of her ass. “Jesus…fuck!” His expletives escaped in a world of crazed desire. Jennifer was making those tiny sounds that drove him insane, and the look on her face read pure ecstasy._

“ _Come on, Josh,” her pupils dilated as she stared into his eyes. “Fuck me. Fuck meee…uuuh,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips towards hers then proceeded to ravish his mouth in an almost violent kiss. The metallic taste of blood hinted at his taste buds as she bit his bottom lip then sucked it into her full mouth with an animistic moan._

_The bass line of the music playing in the next room, vibrated the walls, as Josh picked up the pace and buried himself as far as he could go. He mashed his tongue against hers as they both grunted into the other’s mouth. His body swelled just as she dug her fingers into his shoulders and squeaked out a noise of pleasure. He could feel her body spill its release against his, pour down his shaft, covering it in flood of liquid heat, and that was all it took for him to follow her lead. Josh pressed his mouth against her fleece covered breasts and allowed the ample mounds to stifle his cry of pleasure. He panted out his completion against her rapidly beating heart, and felt her feet unhook from around his waist. It was over before it had begun. Their first time flashed through Josh’s mind, but he told himself it was different this time. They were sober. They knew what they were doing, but that still didn’t quell the feelings of guilt that slowly started to consume him, for taking her the way he did._

“ _Oh God,” she sighed out as he pulled himself from her with a slight plop, and they separated. “I needed that.” Jennifer patted him on the shoulder and blew out a satisfied breath._

“ _Well,” he tucked himself back into his pants, and zipped up, “I’m going to assume you don’t hate me anymore.” However, he did hate himself._

_Jennifer stood with her back plastered to the wall. “No. I still hate you,” she said with closed eyes and a small, grateful smile. “I hate you more than you could possibly imagine.”_

“ _Mmmm,” he pressed a tender kiss against her lips hoping to show her much he loved her._

_Her hands trailed down the sides of his face as she pulled him back in for another kiss. “We still need to talk,” she bent at the waist, pulled on her sweatpants, and straightened herself out. “I need to ask you something.”_

“ _Was it good for me? Because it was,” he gave her a teasing smile then noticed the furrow of her brow. “Jen, what’s wrong?” He worried that he had been too rough with her. That she resented the fact that the sex was purely that…sex._

“ _Josh, did you talk about me and Nick during a television interview?”_

“ _Not that I’m aware-” he had to think, and then he remembered, “Oh, I think I said something like, your friends have been supporting you through it, but it was nothing major.”_

“ _Jesus,” he could see her face turn instantly red with fury. “You fucking said that shit!?”_

“ _What shit? I…I just made an offhand comment, then I changed the subject. It was nothing.”_

“ _Yeah, you said that already. ‘It was nothing!’” She yelled at him. “But it’s something to me! You told those fucking people that Nick and I were young and we grew apart?”_

“ _Yeah, but I also told them that you were amazing, and I was proud of you. Which I am,” he said in defense of himself._

“ _Who gives a fuck!? You gave those people a fucking quote about_ _my_ _fucking love life!” She stomped her feet as she made her way towards him. “And make no mistake about it, it is_ _ **my**_ _fucking love life! Not yours!” She poked a finger into his chest. “What are you…trying to make some sort of claim on me now? Trying to let people think you and I have something more than what we do!?”_

“ _And what is that, Jen?” His temper was growing quickly out of hand once again. “You come here tonight, jealous of my ex, fuck me up against a wall, and then get pissed because I made some stupid comment about you and Nick!? What the fuck?”_

“ _It’s not about that!”_

“ _Keep your voice down or everyone’s going to hear you,” his was getting awfully loud as well._

“ _If I want to scream at you,” her nostrils flared as she said in a low growl, “I’ll fucking scream.”_

“ _Fine, you go ahead and yell, but while you’re at it, maybe you can answer my question for me. What the fuck are we? You told me we were going to stop hiding when this awards shit was up. That we could finally make a go of this.”_

“ _Keep dreaming!”_

_A sharp pain struck him in the center of his chest. “Jesus, were you just filling me full of shit so you could keep fucking me? Is that all I am to you? Now that Nick’s not around you needed a piece of_ _**convenient** _ _ass?”_

“ _Don’t turn this shit around on me.” She glared at him._

“ _Turn this shit around? Fuck, Jen. I can’t keep track of any of it. First you seduce me in Hawaii-”_

“ _I seduced you!?” Her eyes grew wide. “You weren’t arguing when you threw my leg over your shoulder and fucked me!”_

“ _Know what, you should just go,” he threw his hands up, “before we both say something we’ll regret.”_

“ _I don’t regret one fucking thing I’ve said here.” She pulled her keys from the pocket of her hoodie. “You want an answer as to what we are, fine. We’re…’nothing,’” she threw his word back in his face._

“ _Nothing,” his insides were shaking. “That’s nice, Jen. Real nice.”_

“ _You fucking betrayed my trust, you son of a bitch,” she pushed at his shoulders. “It’s bad enough I have to deal with these fuckers stalking me on a daily basis, now I’ve got you hand feeding them shit about my life! You’re just as bad as those fucking scumbags!” She stormed towards the door. “As for you and me…” she threw the door open, and turned to face him from the hallway, “This_ _ **fucking**_ _friendship is so fucking over!”_

“ _GOOD!” He screamed at her down the hall, immediately regretting his acceptance of her ending their relationship. “Jen!” He pushed his way past the small crowd of people, gathering in the hall, to see what was happening. “Jen!” he could see her rubbing at her eyes, and throwing his front door open. By the time he ran down his driveway to catch up with her, her tires were squealing out their escape down the street._

“ _Josh?” Vanessa stood behind him with a strange look on her face. “What the hell was that about?”_

“ _Nothing,” he glanced over his shoulder at her. “Just…it was nothing.” And all he could think was, if it was truly nothing, then why did he feel like his heart had just been ripped out of his chest and crumbled into a million pieces?_

“Do you have any soda?” Jennifer asked. “I don’t think I should be drinking.”

He didn’t think he should be drinking either. The last time he and Jen got drunk together was how all this started. “I think I do,” he saw a six pack of Coke in the fridge. “It’s not diet.” Josh always laughed at her when she ordered a ton of food and added on diet soda, claiming it canceled out the other calories.

“That’s okay. Regular is fine.” Jen took the cold can from Josh’s hand. “So,” she popped open the top and looked down at it, “how have you been?”

“Good. Great,” he lied miserably through his teeth. “You?”

“Great,” in a twisted way he hoped that wasn’t true. “Actually,” she placed the can down on the table without drinking from it, “I haven’t been doing too well lately.”

He set his soda down next to hers. “Me either.” It was time to get things out in the open, and try to find some way of mending the shredded fabric of their lives.

“I take it being Academy Award Winner, Jennifer Lawrence, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?” Josh asked, taking a spot next to her on the sofa.

“Not really,” Jennifer played with the end of her shirt, which Josh noticed, had belonged to him, and tried not to make too much out of. “It has its ups and downs I suppose.” She bent her knee and faced him, “I thought maybe the cockroaches would crawl back into the woodwork after the Oscars, but no such luck. They seem to follow me even more now,” he knew she was speaking of the paparazzi. “On the plus side, I seem to get away with murder.”

Josh let out a little chuckle. “We both do.”

“Yeah,” she blushed slightly. “I guess we do.”

_Josh had tried to call Jen over and over again. He had sent her texts saying he was sorry. That he was an idiot for not saying, ‘No comment,’ when asked about her love life. He watched her win the Academy Award, and hated that he hadn’t been the one to rush to her side and help to pick her up off of the stairs. He searched her demeanor for any sign of pain…regret, listened to interviews she did that night, hoping she’d send him some sort of message that she wanted to see him again. When he realized that she had not only moved on with her life, but had done so happily, he sent one last text. At eleven o’clock on the dot Josh picked up his phone and wrote out,_ _**“Goodnight, Jen. I miss you.”** _ _He stared at the screen of his phone for several long minutes praying that she would reply…until the tears he had been holding back, since she stormed out of his life, came crashing down upon him. When his phone rang, he answered it without taking notice of who was on the other end._

“ _Josh?”_

“ _Jen?” He wiped away his tears._

“ _No, it’s Vanessa.”_

“ _Oh. Uh…hey. How’s it going?” He damned himself for not checking to see whose picture popped up on the caller ID._

“ _Okay,” she said hesitantly before asking, “Are you going to meet us tonight?” Some of his friends had decided to hit the after parties, but Josh didn’t want to risk running into Jennifer and ruining her big night._

“ _No. I’m going to stay here, but you guys have fun. Listen, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up before Vanessa could say anything more. When his doorbell rang over an hour later, his heart leaped to his throat. A thousand thoughts filled his mind as he rushed to the door. Had Jennifer decided to come back to him? Did she get his text and find herself as lonely and vulnerable as he did? “Vanessa,” Josh looked past his friend hoping that Jennifer was walking down the drive. “I told you, I’m not going out tonight,” he said with disappointment._

_Vanessa pushed past him, entering his home without invitation and said, “Yeah. I know.” She placed her hand on her sequined gown covered hip and said, “She really did a number on you, didn’t she?”_

“ _Who?” Josh was taken aback by Vanessa’s question._

“ _Puhleeze,” she rolled her eyes at Josh. “If you think I didn’t know what you and Jen were doing in that bedroom the night of the party, you’re crazy.” She tapped her high heel at him._

“ _Nothing happened,” Josh sat on the edge of his sofa, and tried to believe his lies._

“ _You’re forgetting, I used to sleep with you. I recognized that, just fucked look, you had. Plus you wreaked of sex.”_

“ _Leave it alone, Vanessa,” Josh’s warning was lifeless._

“ _Come on,” Vanessa tugged at Josh’s arm. “Go get dressed. We’re all going out tonight.”_

“ _I…” he searched for a good enough reason to say no, “…I have to be up early.”_

“ _The Josh I knew would have never passed up a party.” Vanessa walked to the arm of the sofa and sat next to him. “Then again, the Josh I knew, never came back from Hawaii.” His eyes shot to hers. “That’s when it started with Jennifer, huh?” Vanessa ran her hand over his shoulder and gave him a look of understanding. “Talk to me, Josh. Tell me what’s going on.”_

_He held on as long as he could, but his damn emotions got the best of him, and silent tears began to fall from his eyes. “We were supposed to tell everyone after tonight. We were going to stop hiding…” his voice cracked, “…we were sup…supose…”_

“ _Oh, Josh,” Vanessa pulled his head against her and hugged him as he sobbed out his heartbreak._

“ _What happened?” She asked._

_Josh explained everything to her, leaving out the names Jennifer called her and the rest of his friends, and ended with the argument that turned him into an empty shell of a human being. “I was stupid, Vanessa. I shouldn’t have said a thing.”_

“ _Yeah,” she nodded. “You were.” She moved from the arm of the sofa to the spot next to him and rested her hand against his leg. “You should have said, ‘no comment,’ but all of us have, ‘should have’ moments in our careers. We’re only human, Josh. Trust me. I should know.” She gave his leg a pat. “The trick is to pick yourself up and move on. If Jennifer can’t look past this, then it’s her loss.”_

“ _If it’s her loss, why do I feel like I’m the one that’s lost everything?” He slumped back against the sofa’s cushions. “I love her.”_

_Vanessa crossed her legs, and gave him a friendly smile. “You said you loved me too once, and you survived our break up.”_

“ _The difference is, I was never_ _ **in**_ _love with you Vanessa,” he gave her a timid smile. He sat quietly for a few seconds before asking,“Do you think it’s possible to find the person you’re going to love for the rest of your life, at our age?”_

“ _Sure,” she nodded. She sighed, and rested her head back against the cushions next to his. “Zac,” she said softly._

“ _Ephron?” Josh asked in surprise._

“ _Yeah,” she gave her head a little shake and stared across the room. “He was my first real love.” She rolled her head towards Josh. “If you tell anybody this, I’m going to deny it till I die, but I still haven’t gotten over him. Things have gotten easier over the years, but there are times when I still find myself crying into a pillow, or in the shower, because I miss him. I miss what we had.”_

“ _Have you ever told him that?” Josh always wondered what happened between the two of them, but every time he asked she would change the subject._

“ _No, and I probably never will. He’s moved on. So have I, but I still love him.” She turned towards Josh. “I don’t know if he was the one or not, but I do know I’ll love him till the day I die, so no. I don’t think we’re too young to find someone we’ll love for the rest of our lives. There’s no guarantee that it’ll work out, Zac and I didn’t, but I do wonder if we had fought through the hard times instead of just taking the easy way out and giving up, would we still be together?”_

“ _Do you think it would have worked out?” Josh was curious to know how she felt._

“ _Yeah,” Vanessa said softly. “But we didn’t work at it, Josh. We didn’t fight for our hearts. We gave into the demands of our careers.” Vanessa played with the clasp on her purse. “He was the love of my life,” her voice was filled with remorse, “and I just let him go. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”_

“ _Jennifer’s the love of my life,” he spoke sadly._

“ _Then call her.”_

“ _I have. I’ve sent her messages, left voice mails, but she won’t respond.”_

“ _Don’t you guys go back to Hawaii soon?” Vanessa asked._

“ _I leave tomorrow morning,” he answered. “I’m not sure when Jen’s supposed to get there.”_

“ _So talk to her then,” Vanessa pulled her phone out of her vibrating purse, and pushed the answer button. “Hey hun,” Josh assumed it was her current boyfriend Austin. “Yeah, I’m on my way. Love you too,” she hung up. “Well, I better go,” she patted at the cushion of the sofa._

“ _So you love him too, huh?” Josh laughed a little._

“ _I do,” she smiled a gentle smile, and let her eyes drift upwards. “Josh,” she gave him a hug, “I’ve accepted that it’s too late for me and Zac. God, that was a lifetime ago, but I refuse to think I can’t find love again, and Austin…he’s the only person that ever made me forget the pain of losing Zac.”_

“ _Gee…thanks,” Josh pretended to be hurt._

“ _Oh, stop it,” she smacked at his chest as he put an arm around her and walked her to the door. “I think you and I always knew we’d never be more than friends, but it was fun while it lasted, huh?”_

“ _Yeah,” he had to agree. “It was, but you’re right. We’re much better friends than we were boyfriend and girlfriend.”_

“ _Talk to her while you’re in Hawaii, Josh. If you love her, then don’t let her go. Tell her you love her, and if she isn’t willing to work things through…I’m living proof that you can still find love after going through a painful break up.” Vanessa pulled the keys from her purse. “See you when you get back, ‘kay?”_

“ _Yeah,” he watched her safely pull away, and was grateful she had stopped by._

_Intent on taking Vanessa up on her advice, Josh tried to talk to Jennifer on the first morning of shooting, but was told by her assistant that, “Miss. Lawrence isn’t accepting visitors right now.”_

_He could hear Jen yelling about something in her trailer, and missed the times they had shared in one exactly like it. The lunches…the talks…the afternoons they’d spend in each other’s arms hoping no one would walk in on them._

“ _Academy Award Winner, Jennifer Lawrence, everyone,” Francis called out as Jennifer walked onto the set, avoiding Josh’s gaze. “Now, that we’ve got that out of the way,” their director said as he gave her a small nod, and gestured towards the beach where Josh and Jennifer would be shooting. Francis draped an arm over Jennifer’s shoulder, and spoke quietly to her about the scene they’d be filming, explaining that the dailies were good, but not quite good enough. They needed to shoot the scenes between Katniss and Peeta in the arena again._

_Josh silently prayed that they wouldn’t have to go through the beach again, and for the first few days of shooting, he hadn’t heard a word about it. Jennifer barely kept eye contact with him unless they were filming, and Josh came to the conclusion that she wanted nothing to do with him. The last day of shooting, when Francis told them that they wanted to do the beach scene again, Josh could feel the hatred pouring out of Jennifer’s eyes. It was hell sitting on the sandy beach, reciting lines of love that hit too close to home, but Josh forced himself not to dwell on the fact that it was Jennifer sitting across from him. She was Katniss, and he was Peeta. Everything was going smoothly until he had to recite the dialogue that sent a searing pain of hopelessness through him, “…no one really needs me.” And when Jennifer said, in character, that she did, his entire world crumbled with the reality that she never would. Jennifer would never need him the way he needed her._

_Grateful that Angie had arranged a friend to meet up with him in Hawaii, Josh accepted the joint from his buddy, and stepped onto the balcony to light it up. With the first hit, he told himself, this was what he needed. To be young and stupid. He didn’t need Jennifer. Vanessa had been right. There were plenty of women in the world that he could find love with. He shared a few laughs with his buddies, and when he saw pictures of him and Jennifer, both smoking on the balconies of their hotel room, he regretted his actions, and tried to figure out how he was going to get out of the newest hole he had dug himself into._

“ _Angie, I didn’t know they could see me,” he explained to his publicist. “Should I make a statement or something?”_

“ _I don’t think you’ll have to,” she answered. “No one’s really making a big deal out of it, Josh. They’re more interested in Jennifer’s smoking than yours.”_

_Panic began to rise. “Shit. Is she okay? I mean…are they freaking out over it?” He recalled how the public reacted to Miley’s photo of taking a hit off of a bong._

“ _No one’s really coming down on Jen for it. All the comments have been, ‘good for her,’ or ‘she probably needed something to relax.’ I say, we stay quiet, and let it blow over. If something more arises from it, we’ll make a statement, but truthfully, you can’t really tell if it’s a joint or if it’s a regular cigarette, and please…don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”_

_Josh let out a little chuckle. “My lips are sealed.”_

“ _Good. Now, let’s get back on track. We’ve got a few things coming up before you head off to Panama.” Josh listened as his publicist went over his upcoming schedule, but his mind continued to stray towards Jennifer, and wondered if she had thought about his well-being after the photos of him smoking surfaced. Deciding that she had better things to think of, he vowed to dedicate himself to his career again, and put all thoughts of love aside._

“You know,” Jennifer gave him a soft smile. “We should have been dragged through the mud for those pictures of us lighting up.”

“Well, we weren’t.” Josh lifted his feet and curled his toes over the edge of the coffee table trying to think of something else to say. “Saw some pictures of you on the set in Boston. Movie looks interesting.”

“It is,” she agreed. “It was great working with Bradley again.”

“I bet.” Josh had been jealous of the guy when he heard rumors about Bradley and Jennifer forming a relationship. He had even entertained thoughts that Bradley Cooper was the reason for Jennifer putting an end to their relationship, until he came to the conclusion that he, himself, was to blame for it.

“Now I get to work with Nick,” she looked to the side. “Such joy.”

Josh gave her a look of pity. “Take it things haven’t been as friendly as the press make it out to be?”

“Do the press ever get anything right?”

“I can think of one time they got it right, and I got it wrong,” Josh turned to her. “Jen, I’m sorry about commenting on your life. I shouldn’t have and you had ever right to be angry with me.”

She nodded at him. “No one’s perfect, Josh.” God knows she wasn’t. She had screwed up more times than she could count. “I shouldn’t have exploded like that on you. I think I was just so worn out from…everything, that I took my frustrations out on you.” She made a soft grunting noise. “I took my frustrations out on everyone after that. Even those that were just trying to help me see what a jerk I had become.”

“ _Just stop the damn car,” Jennifer yelled at Liz._

“ _Excuse me,” Liz pressed the button that allowed them to speak to the driver, “Could you please pull over. Miss. Lawrence would like to get a cup of coffee.” Liz turned to Jennifer, “Happy now?”_

“ _Happy? What the hell is that?” Jennifer asked sarcastically as she stepped out of the vehicle, slamming the car door behind her before the driver could make his way around to do it for her. She walked past the people in line at Starbucks and went straight to the head of it, “Excuse me,” she said to the person in front. “I need to catch a flight, would you mind if I ordered before you?”_

“ _You’re Jennifer Lawrence,” the man said._

“ _Yes, I know.” Jennifer only used her fame when she absolutely had to, and right now she_ _ **had**_ _to have a cup of coffee._

“ _Go ahead,” the man gestured towards the counter and Jennifer placed her order, then graciously accepted the free beverage from the Barista before getting the hell out of there._

“ _Well if it isn’t Jennifer Lawrence.”_

_Jennifer stood frozen on the sidewalk at the familiar voice coming from behind her. “Vanessa,” she slowly turned to face the girl she hated with the burning heat of a thousand suns._

“ _How are you doing?” Vanessa asked with a false brightness in her tone._

“ _Fine. You?” Jennifer had no desire to find out._

“ _Better than Josh,” Vanessa’s fake, sweet demeanor, turned to ice. “Not that you would care.”_

“ _I’m sorry,” Jennifer made to turn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

“ _Sure you don’t,” Vanessa said to Jennifer’s back._

_She could feel her blood pressure rising at the accusation in Vanessa’s voice and said, “If you’ve got something to say to me, just say it.”_

“ _You broke his heart.” Vanessa’s words had Jennifer facing her head on. Vanessa stepped closer and lowered down her voice. “You know, I used to look up to you. I thought, wow, she’s really got her shit together. She’s so young, and so talented, but I never knew you were so…self absorbed.” Vanessa’s words ripped through her. “I just hope you’re as smart as I always gave you credit for, and you accept his apology, because he is sorry. Not that I have to tell you that. I’m sure he’s said it a million times over, and you’ve just ignored him.” Vanessa took one more step towards Jennifer._

“ _You should mind your own business,” Jennifer was furious that Josh had told Vanessa, of all people, about them. “See ya,” she turned on her heels and headed for the car._

“ _He really loves you, you know?” Jennifer closed her eyes and felt her heart being ripped from her chest, “And you just threw it all away, like a love like that comes along every day.” She turned to face Vanessa one last time, and saw the disdain on the girl’s face. “Well, you’ve got all your awards now to keep you warm at night. I hope they were worth losing him for.” Vanessa said snidely to her before Jennifer stepped back into the limo._

“ _That bitch,” Jennifer spat out. “That little fucking bitch.”_

“ _Who?” Liz looked out the dark window towards the street._

“ _No one,” Jennifer wasn’t about to share Josh’s most recent betrayal. “Let’s go.” Not that she was in a hurry to get to Hawaii and see him again. She had briefly considered giving Josh another chance, but put it out of mind. She no longer reconsidered her outburst at him, and decided she was going to make the most of her trip to Hawaii. “Liz, I think I’m going to invite someone to join me while I’m filming. I might as well have some fun while I’m out there, don’t you think?”_

“ _I guess, but…” Liz hesitated before saying, “…I thought maybe you’d want to try to work things out with Josh. Wouldn’t having someone else around be a little uncomfortable?”_

“ _There’s nothing to work out,” Jennifer said harshly. “Josh and I are through.” Saying it out loud tore the existing hole in her heart open even more. No matter how pissed she was at Josh, she still missed him. Missed confiding in him. She missed the way he made her feel. The joy, and normalcy he brought to her life, but most of all, she missed her friend._

“I took my frustrations out on everyone after that.” Jennifer was disappointed in herself for caving into the pressures of her career. “Even those that were just trying to help me see what a jerk I had become.”

“Told you, you were a bitch,” Josh laughed it off, and Jennifer ducked her head down, rolled her eyes and smiled softly.

“I was. Still am,” she said regretfully. “God, these past few months have been sheer hell.”

“You want to talk about it?”

She kicked her shoes off, and put her feet up next to his on the coffee table. “Not really,” she let out a sigh of frustration. “It’s just…” she rested her hands against the cushions of the sofa, and spilled everything to him about life since being nominated for the Golden Globe. “Liz is always on my ass about behaving properly in public. She’s always so afraid that I’ll say something completely inappropriate-”

“Which you do,” Josh jested.

“Yes,” she let out a hint of laughter. “But that’s just who I am.” She turned to face him. “James Lipton wanted me to be on Inside the Actor’s Studio, and I turned him down. You wouldn’t believe the hell I went through after that, but…Jesus! That show is for seasoned actors, not someone my age.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Jen. You might be young, but you are a seasoned performer. Honestly, I think you’re the best actress I’ve ever worked with, and I worked with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore.”

His compliment touched her. “Thanks,” her voice lowered down as the tension in the room slowly disappeared. “You should be on that show with James Lipton,” she grinned tenderly at him. “You’ve been in this business almost your whole life long.” She shook her head slowly from side to side. “When I think of all the people you’ve gotten to work with. It blows my mind,” she confessed to him. “You’ve been such an inspiration to my career, Josh. Do you know that? All of these awards…the recognition. None of it would have happened without you.”

“I seriously doubt that,” he looked away from her, and towards their feet.

“It’s the truth. If I hadn’t heard about you coming out here and making it…I would have given up a long time ago.”

Josh rested his hand on hers and said, “The first time I met you, you were wearing a hot pink dress-”

“It was white,” she corrected him through a gentle giggle.

“No, it wasn’t. It was hot pink.” He settled himself into the sofa and said in a melodic tone, “January 30th, 2011. I was walking the red carpet at the SAG Awards, and there you were.” He rolled his head towards hers. “I remember seeing you standing there, and I swear to you Jen, my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I had never seen anyone so beautiful in all my life.” Listening to him tell her about that night caused her stomach to flutter out of control. “I wanted to talk to you,” he lifted the corner of his mouth in a crooked grin, “but I was sort of intimidated by you.”

“You were not,” she didn’t believe it for a minute.

“No. I was. You were standing there, so sure of yourself. You had this air of confidence about you that I was so scared of, but at the same time, I was envious of how collected you seemed to be.”

“I was a wreck at that thing. Every time I turned around someone else I was in awe of, was standing next to me.” She had felt like a fish out of water at those awards until she saw Josh, someone from back home, standing on the carpet too. “I remember seeing you, and thinking, oh my God, that’s Josh Hutcherson,” she let her gaze fall down to their joined hands.

“You walked up to me, and you started telling me that story about how you had heard of me, and how I had inspired you to keep pursuing your career,” her eyes drifted towards his, and she could see them glistening as he rapidly blinked. “You have no idea what that meant to me, Jen.” Josh gave her hand a squeeze. “That was the first time we met,” he held her gaze. “You _were_ wearing a hot pink dress, and the sight of you left me breathless.”

“Are you sure?” She still wasn’t certain that was the first time they had met.

“Yeah,” he raised his brows. “Don’t forget, my mother’s dating advice. Make sure to remember the important dates,” he released her hand and rested it on his thigh. “I don’t know why I remember that day so clearly, but I do. I always have.”

Memories of an interview in which she corrected him resurfaced, “Then why didn’t you tell me that when Josh Horowitz asked about our first meeting?”

“Because I didn’t want you to think I was a creep or anything by remembering every little detail about that night,” he said with humility.

“You remember…everything?” Jen was a bit shocked.

“Pertaining to you,” he paused, “yeah.” Josh curled his toes into the edge of the coffee table. “Stupid, huh?”

“No,” she was ashamed of herself for not remembering their first meeting correctly. “Do you remember, Mmm Bop?” She asked accusingly.

“Now that, I _don’t_ remember,” he chuckled. “I honestly have no idea what you were talking about when you brought that up.”

“Oh my God,” she slapped him playfully across the upper arm. “Someone had pointed out a guy on the dance floor, and said, ‘he looks like that guy from Hanson,’ then we both started singing Mmm Bop at the same exact time.” They both let out little laughs. “I think that qualifies as my creepy memory of you.”

“That is creepy,” he stuck the tip of his tongue out at her and laughed. A thought shot into his mind. “Remember that time we went to that place with Liam and-”

“Oh my God,” Jennifer laughed, “and Liam ate that thing-”

“For twenty bucks!” They both laughed over their words. “His whole face turned beet red,” Josh continued to laugh.

“He was complaining about that for days,” Jennifer remembered when she had made a bet with Liam that he couldn’t eat a raw jalapeno pepper in less than thirty seconds for twenty dollars.

“Christ, you didn’t have to use the same bathroom as that guy.” Josh waved a hand in front of his face. “Every single time he came out, he had a look on his face that read pure hatred, and he’d say,” Josh took on an Australian accent, “I will never place a bet with that woman again.”

Jennifer shook her head, and smiled brightly. “I warned him. I told him I never lose a bet. He should have listened to me. There’s a lesson to be learned from Liam’s mistake, Josh.”

“Why do you think I’ve never made a bet with you?” He bumped his shoulder into hers.

“Oh. Oh,” Jennifer patted at the seat cushion. “What about that time we had to meet Woody for an interview, and we convinced him that his bag-”

Josh laughed even harder. “Jesus! I thought he was going to have a coronary. He pulled me aside and said, ‘You gotta help me find my bag man, and I asked him if he had a lot of money in there, and he said to me, ‘Fuck the money. My weed is in there.’” Josh cracked up laughing.

Jennifer recalled how concerned Woody looked when they had hidden his belongings, only to have it show up, by the end of the interview, at the foot of his stool. “Remember…” she giggled uncontrollably. “Remember when he asked, ‘Where’d that come from,’ and we got the reporter to say…”

“It’s been there the whole time!” They said in unison and laughed.

“Oh my God. He was so sure he had smoked too much that morning,” Jen laughed. “He whispered to me, ‘has that really been there this entire time?’”

“He asked me the same thing right after the interview, and he said, ‘Josh, didn’t I ask you to help me find that bag?’ and I said, ‘Woody, I don’t know what you’re talking about. That bag was sitting there the entire time.’”

“Have you ever told him the truth about that day?” Jennifer asked.

“Hell no!” Josh’s laugh ended on a breathy sigh. “God that was fun. Not as fun as making you pee your pants.”

“Fuck you,” she bumped her shoulder back into his. “That was _so_ not funny.”

“Oh, it was funny all right.”

They shared a smile, and the jovial mood they had been in the midst of, began to dissipate into the electrically charged current flowing between them. Their smiles slowly dropped from their faces, as their eyes filled with longing.

“I miss this,” Josh said in a hushed tone of voice.

“Me too,” Jen agreed. “You know what I missed the most since…well-”

“Since you walked out on me?”

A knife plunged into her heart at the expression on his face, and the words he chose to use. “Yeah,” she said with feelings of guilt. “I missed talking to you. Just telling you about my day, or working through my problems with you.” Jen’s heart felt like it was about to explode from the amount of pain that filled it. “You were my best friend.”

“I’m still your friend, Jen. I’ll always be your friend.”

“Josh?” She was hesitant to ask, but she had to know. “Do you ever regret that second night we had sex?”

“Why don’t you do us both a favor and stop pretending that what we had was just sex.” The serious expression on Josh’s face made Jen feel sheepish and small. “If that were the case then we wouldn’t have gone through hell during our last days in Hawaii.”

_It was the last day of shooting, and the final scene Francis wanted to get was the beach scene. They had shot it once before, but the director didn’t feel the sense of desperation emoting from Jennifer and Josh when he watched the footage back. Francis cleared almost the entire set, and left just the bare bones crew, sure that the sense of privacy would allow them to find the motivation they’d need in order to relate their character’s deeply hidden emotions. The lighting guys had rigged it so it looked like it was a moonlit evening, even though it was about three in the afternoon, and Josh and Jennifer could feel the nervous energy flowing between them._

_At one point, Josh attempted to hold Jennifer’s stare, but he could feel an intensity within her eyes that had him certain she despised him._

_Jennifer tried her best to convince herself that the feelings going through her system were anger, and contempt, but the fact was, she was terrified of this scene. Petrified that crack in her heart would spread open, and shatter her soul to pieces at the touch of Josh’s lips._

“ _You two ready?” Francis asked. They both nodded at the director. “Aaaand, action.”_

_Josh searched for Peeta, sure that he had found the character he had developed since the first film, and said the line right before Katniss was supposed to kiss him. “The truth is…no one really needs me,” he sucked in a breath at the end of the statement when the reality of his life hit him. Jennifer didn’t need him. She never did, and she never would._

“ _I do,” Jennifer’s eyes began to water when she heard Josh speak. Not because she thought Katniss would cry, but because the knowledge that she did, in fact, need Josh struck her like a bolt of lightening. “I need you,” her voice cracked as the first tear rolled down her cheek, forming a tiny pool at the corner of her mouth. She cradled Josh’s face in her hands, pressed her lips against his, and felt all of her fears coming to light. “I need you,” she croaked out as her world crumbled._

“ _No,” Josh shook his head. “You don’t.” Peeta was long gone now, and in his place was the man whose life had been shattered into a million pieces by the beautiful young actress straddling his lap. “You never did.”_

“ _I do,” Jennifer pressed her lips against his. “I do,” her breath caught in her chest as her fingers dug into his arms, and pulled him closer to her. “I need you.” Something inside of her screamed, this was it. This would be the last time she’d ever get to show him…to let him know that she loved him too._

_The reality that this would be the last time he’d ever get to kiss the woman he loved more than anything in the world struck Josh, and he no longer cared about making sure the scene was perfect. All he wanted to do was pretend that the person kissing him was Jennifer, and not Katniss. His arms wrapped around her as he plunged his tongue into her mouth and she greedily accepted his kiss. Their heads twisted and turned as their hands roamed over faces…backs…throats._

_Neither one of them broke apart when Francis called out, “Lightening,” signaling the sound effect that would be added at a later date. They simply continued to kiss as though their lives depended on it. As though they were dying of thirst and this one kiss was the only thing that could quench the burning in their throats. “LIGHTENING!” A loud crash had them breaking apart and turning towards the sound of their director pounding something against a table. Their lips were swollen. Their breathing labored, and their dreams of a life in which they could love each other freely were swept away with one word. “CUT!”_

“I guess you’re right,” Jen admitted to Josh. “Those last few days of shooting really sucked.” She knew she had been the cause of it. Josh had tried to talk to her back then. He had tried to work things out with her, but Jennifer was too lost in her own hectic career to allow personal intrusions. “I’m sorry, Josh.” She reached out and traced the jawline she loved so much. “So sorry.”

“Me too,” he pursed his lips and blew a breath out. “I fucked up, Jen. I betrayed your trust,” he repeated the words she had used on him so long ago, “and for that, I will always be truly sorry.”

She stared at their hands, which were still joined on the sofa between them. “You never answered my question.” She lifted her eyes to his. “Do you ever regret…” she chose her words carefully, and truthfully, “…making love to me that second night?”

He started shaking his head before she even finished the question. “Never. How could I? I loved you, Jen. Loving you taught me a lot about myself. You know that night I went to your suite and brought you all that stuff to take care of you?”

“Yeah?” It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her.

“I never did that for any other girl before.” It was time Josh admitted a few things, not only to himself, but to her as well. “If it had been Vanessa, or Francia, I’d have never done that. Shit, I never would have done that for _any_ girl. Ever.”

“Bullshit, Josh,” Jennifer rolled her eyes at him. “You’re too sweet not to help a person in need.”

“That’s the thing, Jen. I never really cared about my girlfriend’s needs. I mean, I was a decent enough boyfriend. Did the whole flower bit, and opened the doors for them, but if at any time they wanted something that was an inconvenience to me…shit, I’d blow them off.” He raised his brows then dropped them. “The fact is, up until you entered my life, I was a self centered guy. I was nice to my girlfriends, but I never really went out of my way for them when they truly needed me to.”

“Seriously?” Jennifer found that hard to believe. “You’re always so…sweet.”

“To you,” Josh admitted. “To all the other women that had been in my life, I was sort of…guess you could say I was a stereotypical Hollywood actor. I remember one time, Francia wanted me to go see a movie with her, but I had already gone to the premiere so I didn’t want to see it again. She begged me to go Jen, and I just laughed at her.” Josh was filled with shame. “I even told her how the movie ended so she’d leave me the hell alone. Needless to say, that was the beginning of the end.” He pressed her hand between his palms and squeezed. “Loving you changed me, Jen. It taught me how to put other people first.”

“Josh, you always put other people first. You have your own damn charity for Christ sake.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’ve never had a problem doing what’s right. Sure, I’ve done some things I shouldn’t have in my life. Smoked some. Drank…a lot, but when it came to women, I never put their needs before my own. Not until you.” He lifted her hand and placed a kiss against it. “Thank you for allowing me to take care of you. For giving me the opportunity to learn how to be a good man.” His voice lowered to just above a whisper, “For letting me love you.” He placed her hand gingerly down on the sofa. “I can honestly say, what you and I shared, was the greatest experience of my life, and I’ll never regret that.”

She nibbled nervously on her top lip, and said through tear filled eyes, “Me too.”

“Phew,” Josh blew out a shaky breath. “Probably should have told you that a lot sooner.”

“Me too,” she couldn’t find the right words to say to him.

“Well,” he pressed his palms against his thighs and pushed on them as he stood up, “on that note, I should probably get to bed.” He gestured with his chin towards another part of the hotel room. “It’s a two bedroom suite. Feel free to stay in the spare bedroom if you want.”

“Thanks,” she said in barely audible tone. She watched his back as he walked towards the main bedroom. “Josh?” She searched for something to say. “What flight are you on tomorrow?”

“United. Ten-twenty. You?”

“American. Nine-fifty,” she let out a soft chuckle. “Guess Angie and Liz couldn’t get us on the same flight.”

“Doesn’t matter anyway.” Josh had made the decision as soon as she said, they needed to talk. “I’m not going.”

“Why not?” She sat upright.

“There’s really no need for me to go,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Guess you have to though, huh?”

She nodded, “Yeah. Bradley and I won best kiss.”

“Did you win Best Female Performance too?” Josh already knew the answer.

Jennifer nodded.

“Well,” he twisted the doorknob to his bedroom, “give Liam my best.”

“Josh,” she wanted him to change his mind about going, “you have to come. I need you there.”

He only wished she had meant that. “No, Jen. You don’t.” He spoke the painful truth out loud. “You never needed me.”

“Josh.” She wanted to tell him she loved him. That she did need him, but he had made it clear when he used the word love in the past tense, that he no longer felt the same way about her. Her eyes pleaded with his, as anguish filled her core, begging him for some sort of sign. Anything to tell her there was still a shred of hope for them.

“Goodnight, Jen.” He stepped through the bedroom door and closed it. With his palms pressed flat against the door, he sniffed out, “I miss you.”

The morning sun shone through the curtains Josh failed to close the night before. He looked at the neon numbers flashing 6:19 on the alarm clock, threw the blankets off of himself and pulled a pair of pants and a shirt on. He had thought about jumping in the shower, but put the idea out of his head. The need to vacate the premises before Jennifer, had been in his mind since he finally fell asleep sometime around three in the morning. Pocketing his key card, and wallet, he grabbed his baseball cap, shoved it on his head, and rushed out of the room as quietly as a mouse. He roamed the nearby streets of the hotel, finding a small cafe, and hid himself in a corner booth. When he had called Angie to tell her that he wouldn’t be going to the MTV Movie Awards after all, she had a small fit. “Angie, please don’t ask me to go out there and watch her kiss Bradley Cooper.” That was all he had to say for his publicist to silence her displeasure, and agree to clearing his schedule for the rest of his time off. He sat in the booth, drinking cup after cup of coffee until he was sure Jennifer had left to catch her flight. Leaving a couple of twenties on the table to pay for, not only his beverage, but the time he spent occupying the booth, Josh left the seclusion of the little diner, and headed back to the hotel. He placed the key card inside of the lock and opened the door. The scent of freesia accosted him the second he stepped inside. Jennifer’s scent. “Jesus,” he breathed out. His hand clutched for anything to keep himself stable, finding only a wall to brace his palm against. “Jen,” he began to pant out her name. “Jen?” A rush of energy shot through him as he began to race through the suite calling out her name, “JEN!?” He threw open the spare bedroom door and found her bed unmade. The only trace of her, a lingering scent of body lotion. “Shit,” he said to himself. The last time he felt like this, she had walked out of his life. This time he had no one else to blame but himself. He was the one that walked out. “What did I do?”

Jennifer woke up to the hollow sound of her footsteps echoing through an empty hotel room. “Josh?” She knocked on his door, knowing before even turning the knob, that he was gone. She walked aimlessly towards his bed, and picked up the pillow, burying her nose deep into the downy bedding. The smell that had always been a part of Josh, no matter how many times he showered, brought memory after memory of their time together, back in sharp pangs of torment. Her quiet tears flowed onto the sheets as she lay upon the spot he had occupied the night before. She could no longer pretend Josh’s absence didn’t faze her. Vanessa’s words about Jennifer’s awards keeping her warm at night haunted her throughout the evening and into the morning light. She had made her choice, and now had to live with it. She chose her career. Not Josh. Jennifer placed the pillow back in its spot, and packed up her belongings. It was time to head to the airport. MTV was waiting.

Jennifer checked in at the airline’s counter, got her boarding pass and went through the security checkpoint. She drifted through the airport with thoughts of her life’s choices going through her mind, no longer questioning them. Certain that she was on the right path.

“Last call for flight 3318 to Los Angeles, California,” the sound of a woman’s voice filtered through the speakers, but Jennifer failed to take notice.

“Excuse me, Miss. Lawrence?” The sound of Jennifer’s name had her lifting her gaze towards the voice. “Are you boarding?”

“Oh. Sorry.” Jennifer stood up and walked towards the gate, pausing a mere two feet away from the outstretched hand reaching for her boarding pass.

“Miss. Lawrence?” The woman stood with her hand out. “We can’t hold the flight for you.”

Up til this point, Jennifer thought the day she got nominated for a Golden Globe, had been a sort of curse, but now… Josh’s words entered her mind. Words he had spoken to her on that day. The day her life changed forever.

“ _I told you, I’d give up everything for the right woman, and she’d never have to ask.” The love that filled Josh’s eyes took her breath away. “You never have to ask, Jen.”_

Jennifer began walking backwards away from the woman at the gate. This is your career, she thought to herself, and realized that her career meant nothing to her. Her _life_ meant nothing without Josh to share it with. Jennifer turned on her heels, intent on running as fast as she could, back to him. To beg him to take her back, and then froze in place.

Josh stood about ten feet away from her, looking winded, and forlorn. “I told myself, she doesn’t need me. She never did. I told myself,” Josh captured a choppy breath, “chasing after you would make me look like a love sick idiot, and then I remembered,” he took a careful step towards her, “I promised you that I’d always take care of you.”

Jen choked back the sob that threatened to escape. Her eyes were filled with tears as she took a tentative step towards him. “I do need you,” her trembling voice squeaked out.

Josh glanced out the window at the plane that was waiting for her. “You’re going to miss your flight,” he took another step.

She took another step. “I’m not going.”

“You’re giving up MTV for me?” He asked with a flicker of hope in his eyes.

“I’d give up everything for you,” she gasped out, “and you never have to ask.”

She rushed into his open arms, gripping tightly to his back, as their lips met in a frantic kiss.

Jennifer pulled his face away from hers so she could look him right in the eyes when she said, “I love you.”

“I love you back,” he held her as tightly as he could, and pressed his lips against hers, tasting the saltiness of their tears between their parted mouths.

The rush of their kiss slowed down to a snail’s pace until Jennifer pulled away from him and said, “While You Were Sleeping.” She smiled at his use of the romantic lead’s line from the movie.

“Very good,” he threaded his fingers through hers, and guided her away from the gate, towards the exit. “MTV is going to be pissed that you’re not going to be there.” He turned his loving gaze to hers. “What made you change your mind?”

“Hmmm,” she let her head fall back then picked it up. “My choices are, go to the MTV Movie Awards and fake kiss Bradley Cooper, or stay here and have hot sex with you. Bradley is handsome man, but I’m going to have to choose option number two,” her glowing smile met his.

“You’re presuming I’m going to have sex with you,” their familiar banter lifted the world off of Josh’s shoulders. “If I’m going to agree to this, we’re going to need some ground rules.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “First rule. We need to tell everyone about us.”

“I can agree to that one,” Josh let go of her hand, took her overnight bag from her, resting the strap over his shoulder, and slipped his arm around the back of her waist.

“Two.” Jennifer bit at the corner of her lip. “No fooling around with other people.”

“That goes without saying.”

Jennifer slipped her hand into his back pocket as they walked through the thick crowd of people. “Three…umm…”

“How about we just promise to put our relationship first for a change?” Josh suggested.

“Now, _that_ goes without saying.” Jennifer rested her head against his shoulder. “Oooh, I thought of another one. No sushi every night of the week.” She made a disgusted face at him. “I need my cheese steak and Big Mac fix.”

As they made their way out of the airport, they heard the whispers from the people watching them. “Isn’t that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson?” They knew there were cell phones with cameras snapping shots of them…that there would be even more cameras taking pictures of them once they returned to California, but neither one of them cared.

“What the hell are we going to do about Andre?” Jennifer asked as she stepped into the hotel room with Josh behind her. “He’s going to get sick of listening to that headboard pounding against the wall of your bedroom, “ she pulled Josh in for a kiss.

“He’ll get over it. Plus I can always stay at your place.”

“I’ve been told that I’m very hard to live with,” Jennifer tilted her head to the side and smiled demurely.

Josh’s hands stroked the hair away from her face. “It’s even harder living with _out_ you.”

They had been here before, and let it slip through their fingers. Now they were both determined to hold onto the gift they had been given, with both hands. They knew life would present them with a multitude of challenges, but they also knew that they’d rather spend their lives facing those challenges together than living without each other’s love.

**Epilogue**

The bell on the door of the sandwich shop rang out as Josh and Jennifer stepped inside.

“If it isn’t my best customers,” the owner of the place, Anthony greeted them. “What can I get for you?”

Josh lifted his eyes to the menu, regardless of the fact that they always ordered the same thing. “I’ll have the large cheese steak.”

“Me too,” Jennifer said. “Actually, I want two,” she looked to Josh. “I’ll need one for a midnight snack. Oh, and a large fries…with cheese…the melted stuff.”

“You want fries?” Anthony asked Josh.

“Nah. I’ll share hers,” he answered.

“He wants fries,” Jennifer said. “He’s smoking something if he thinks he’s getting my cheese fries.”

“It’ll be about ten minutes,” Anthony shouted out their order to the guy manning the flat top grill.

“We’ve got ten minutes to kill,” Josh said. “Want to play Bacon?”

“Ooh,” Jen wagged her brows. “I love playing this. Okay, you first.”

Josh was hoping she’d say that. “I’m going to choose…Kelly Preston.”

“Oh, that’s a good one.” Jennifer got a thoughtful look on her face.

“Okay, Kevin Bacon and…Kyra Sedgwick in Lemon Sky,” Josh paused and said, “Did you know they met during that movie? She was only twenty-two, and they’ve been together for over two decades.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. I knew they were married, but I didn’t know she met him when she was just twenty-two.”

“Yup.” Josh continued. “Okay, Kyra Sedgwick and John Travolta in Phenomenon.”

“I love that movie,” Jen said absently.

“Me too,” he agreed. “John Travolta and Rita Wilson in Old Dogs,” Josh paused.

“Hey, John Travolta and Kelly Preston are married too,” Jennifer said it as though it were a coincidence.

“Yeah,” Josh looked like he was thinking. “They’ve been married for over two decades.”

“Oooh, Rita Wilson and-”

Jennifer started, but Josh interrupted her. He already knew the path he was going to take. “Tom Hanks in Volunteers.”

“Volunteers? Never seen it.” Jen rested her back against the counter.

“Wasn’t that great of a movie,” Josh pretended to think.

Jennifer gave him a strange look and said, “Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson…aren’t they married?”

“Oh yeah,” Josh forced himself not to grin. “Geez, they’ve been together almost thirty years.” He quickly continued with the game. “Tom Hanks and me,” he rested his hand against his chest, “in Polar Express.”

Jennifer grunted. “Animation shouldn’t count.”

“We decided the last time we played that it did.”

“Whatever,” she teased him. “Keep going. You’re on a roll.”

“Okay. Me and Annette Bening in The Kids are All Right. Annette Bening and Warren Beatty in Love Affair-”

“What is this, twenty-four degrees of Kevin Bacon?”

He laughed it off and said, “I met Warren Beatty during filming. Nice guy. Did you know he was considered to be Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor in his day.”

“Until he met his wife,” Jennifer paused. “Annette Bening,” she arched a brow in Josh’s direction.

“Warren Beatty to Goldie Hawn in Shampoo.”

“You ever see that movie?” Jennifer asked him. “I have no clue why everyone thinks it’s so great.

“It’s supposed to be a classic,” Josh shrugged it off. “Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in Swing Shift.” Josh led her towards one of the empty tables, and had her take a chair. “You know they’ve been together for almost thirty years too.”

“Oh really,” Jennifer smiled up at him knowingly.

“Uh huh,” he smiled back. “And finally, Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston in Sky High.”

“Now that was a good movie,” Jennifer chuckled. “Hey,” she knit her brows together. “Didn’t Kelly Preston and Kevin Bacon do Death Sentence together?”

“I don’t know,” Josh did know, but he wouldn’t have been able to make his point if he had used that reference. “Kind of funny how so many of the actors I mentioned have been in relationships for over twenty years, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Jennifer tugged on his hand so he’d bend down to kiss her. “Very smooth, Josh.”

“I thought so,” he chuckled. “My point is that we’re amongst some of Hollywood’s greatest love stories.” He brushed his hand across her brow. “I was going to take you somewhere really romantic tonight, but then I realized, a romantic restaurant really isn’t us.” Josh stood in front of her, holding onto one of her hands and thought about all they had gone through in the past four years. The last Hunger Games movie was out, and they were about to embark on the European promotional tour. “Jennifer,” he grinned as he dug into his pocket and tossed a ring onto the table, “I need to ask you a question.”

From behind the counter, Anthony said the line from the movie, While You Were Sleeping, like Josh had asked him to, “Get down on your knee. It’s more romantic.”

Jennifer’s jaw dropped as Josh continued with a quote from Runaway Bride. “Look, I guarantee there’ll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don’t ask you to be mine, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you’re the only one for me.”

“Oh my God,” Jen placed a hand on her rapidly beating heart.

“You see, Jen,” Josh paused before embellishing a quote from Notting Hill, “I’m just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to love me.” He could see her bottom lip trembling as he finished up with the final quote. Josh slid the ring across the table, bent down on one knee and asked, “Stay with me?”

Jennifer frantically nodded as tears of joy spilled down her cheeks. “Always.” She held out her left hand for him to slip the ring over her finger. “AAACK!” She screamed out when the ring was comfortably on.

They both pointed to their ring fingers and said in unison, “We’re getting married!”

Anthony handed them their bag and said, “On the house,” but Josh put enough to cover the meal and then some in the man’s tip jar just the same.

“Thanks,” Jennifer held her hand out in front of her as they exited the restaurant. “Holy shit! This is some rock.”

“Like it?” Josh pulled her close. “Vanessa helped me pick it out.”

“Remind me to thank her,” Jennifer stuck her hand in Josh’s. “Mufasa’s got excellent taste.”

“Hey, you want to go to that place and pick up some of that stuff for desert?” Josh asked.

“Sure,” Jennifer brushed her hand against his arm. “Know what? We should do each other.”

Josh turned a careful eye to her. “Now?”

“Yup, and it has to be different this time,” she squeezed his hand in hers.

“Okay, but what do you say we make a little wager first?” Josh lifted the corner of his mouth in a grin. “Whoever is the easiest, loses their cheese steak.”

“Whoever is the easiest, loses their cheese steak and has to perform sexual favors,” Jennifer amended the bet.

“You sure you want to do this, Jen?”

“Hell yeah, and I’m going first,” she bit the corner of her lips and said, “Okay…Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins in Mystic River, and Tim Robbins and you in Zathura. Ha!” She jumped out in front of him. “Beat that! I got it in two.”

“I’m going to give you one last chance to back out of this bet, Jen.”

“I never lose a bet, Josh,” she said in a sing song voice. “Bring it On!”

“Okay. You asked for it.” Josh gave her a shit eating grin and said, “Kevin Bacon, X-Men: First Class, and Jennifer Lawrence!” He started to dance around in a circle as Jennifer screamed out her displeasure.

“Shit! Shiiiit! I forgot about that.” She squinted her eyes tightly at him and pretended to glare. “You suck.”

“No, but you will,” Josh laughed, and she joined in.

“Denzel Washington,” Jennifer said randomly as she took Josh’s hand again.

“Yeah. He’s been married for over thirty years,” Josh knew what she meant without her having to explain. “Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.”

“Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan.”

They walked down the street hand in hand as a camera flashed from the street. They no longer worried about the inevitable paparazzi that hounded them on any given day. All they could do now was make the most out of the love they shared for one another, and never forget, that they may be public figures, but they were Josh and Jen first.

The  End

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr. I'm Jamiesommers23 or follow my joshiferrecs blog for a variety of Joshifer stories written by various authors.   
> Thanks for reading. ~J

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr. I'm jamiesommers23 or follow my joshifer blog that is dedicated to fanfics written by multiple authors. It's joshiferrecs on tumblr.


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